
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap....r.. ^lyright No 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




THE ASCENSION 



HISTORY OF 



XLhc ®16 tTestament 



IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE 



IVith an Introduction by REl^. WILLIAM A. MiLBURN, D.D. 
Over loo Original Engravings and Colored plates 



BY 



Pollard 



Author of BIBLE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE; HISTORY OF THE NEW 
TESTAMENT; BIBLE STORIES FOR CHILDREN; SWEET STORIES 
OF GOD; RUTH, A BIBLE HEROINE ; GOD MADE THE WORLD; 
THE GOOD SAMARITAN ; THE BOYHOOD OF JESUS; THE 
STORY OF JESUS ; etc., etc. •«««•«««««««««« 



Tilustratca 



NEW YORK 



Ebc Merner Company 

AKRON, OHIO 
1899 



CHICAGO 



38889 



Copyright, 1899, 

BY 

THE WERNER COMPANY 



fVHQCQfr'M-t, <vtCeiV£L>. 











Introduction. 



By Rev. William Henry Milbukn, D. D, 



NO man of his time filled a larger space in the public eye of this 
country than John Randolph of Roanoke. His eccentricities, 
audacity and brilliancy, — his pride of birth and race, fearlessness 
and self-assertion, — his incisive and trenchant speeches set off with spark- 
ling wit, keen satire, fierce invective, clothed in perfect English, and 
uttered with the style of a master, his sharp criticisms of the faults and 
short-comings of his fellow-Congressmen, which gained for him the title, 
"schoolmaster of Congress," together with his political consistency and 
fitfulness of temper, invested all his movements and sajings with a 
peculiar charm for the people. In his earliest years he had been carefully 
taught by his beautiful mother, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten 
Commandments, and many parts of God's Word, until he had them by 
heart, and yet, in his haughty youth and early manhood he strove to set 
at naught these teachings : furnished himself with a "whole body of in- 
fidelity," as he styled his collection of the writings of Voltaire and other 
French authors, as well as British, who strove to abolish the Bible, and 
for man)7 years it seemed at once his pride and delight to wield the weap- 
ons drawn from these arsenals against the truths which make men wise 
unto Eternal Life, and to jeer with flout and scoff at all he had learned 
from his mother's lips. But later on he confessed, with heart-breaking 
sobs and bitter tears, that with all his arrogance and insolence, his stern 
resolve to become and continue a Deist, he had never been able to put 
aside for a single day or night the lessons taught him by his mother, and 
that the hallowed forms of sound words, learned on her lap or at her 
knee, had dwelt with him, and were ever sounding in his ears, to ad- 
monish, counsel and reprove. There have been few more pathetic scenes 
than that in which Randolph came to die ; a gaunt old man, old before 



his time ; worn out by misery, shrivelled and haggard, sitting uprignt in 
his bed, covered by a blanket, even his head enveloped and his hat on top 
of it ; unutterable despair looking out at his eyes, his pinched lips and 
squeaking voice uttering, "Let me see it; get a dictionary; find me the 
word Remorse." A dictionary could not be found. "Write it ; I must 
see it," he almost shrieked with failing voice. The word was written on 
his visiting card below his name ; he demanded that it should be written 
above as well. The card was handed to him. "Remorse, John Ran- 
dolph of Roanoke, Remorse." With horror in his face and that card in 
his hand, his eyes staring at the word, he breathed his last. From that 
mournful death-bed seemed to come floating the solemn words, "Take 
fast hold of instruction; keep her; let her not go, for she is thy life," 
and "He that sinneth against wisdom wrongeth his own soul." 

Long centuries ago, a young man of aristocratic birth, handsome 
person, polished manners, brilliant and highly cultivated intellect, was 
walking, on a day in the reign of the Emperor Julian, by the bank 
of the river Orontes, not far from the stately city of Antioch, the 
Paris of that age, — and saw something floating in the stream. The 
branch of a tree enabled him to drag it ashore ; it proved to be a copy of 
the sacred Scriptures; Julian, the mad master of the world, had issued 
an edict, annexed to which were heavy penalties, that all copies of that 
book should be destroyed. The young man who drew the manuscript to 
shore had been taught the lessons of that volume from a child, by his 
pious mother, Anthusa ; but he had thrown off the yoke of his mother's 
faith ; had become a devotee of heathen philosophy, poetry and rhetoric, 
and at the same time steeped himself in the licentious pleasures and dis- 
sipations of the Grove of Daphne, the Hippodrome and Theatre, and re- 
solved that "the man Christ Jesus should not reign over him." He 
opened the parchment, some words on the page caught his eye; they 
were familiar, yet shone with a new light and were armed with irresistible 
power: he read on ; his mother's prayers were answered ; he embraced 
the truth, bowed his neck to the yoke he had foresworn, and the vol- 
ume he rescued from the flood became a treasure-trove for the world, — 



through fifteen centuries alike in the east and west, — that man has been 
known as St. John Chrysostom, the "Mouth of Gold," one of the most 
saintly and eloquent preachers, whose life, genius, sufferings a-nd death for 
conscience's sake adorned the history of mankind. 

Not far from the same time, a young man bathed in tears lay wrich- 
ing in agony under a fig tree in the garden of his house at Milan. His 
devout mother, Monica, in their Numidian home, had taught him the 
way of life written in God's Word ; but as he grew to manhood he strove 
to shake off the influence and authority of her instruction; became a lib- 
ertine, reached forth to grasp the crown of heathen eloquence and learn- 
ing, and for more than ten years wrought steadily to undo the sacred 
work his mother had performed for him as a child. But the lesson she 
had taught him lay deeper than his surging passions, imperious intellect, 
and haughty will, and because of their power over him he could find no 
rest night or day. He journeyed to Carthage, Rome, Milan, the chief 
cities of the western world, to study art and eloquence, to drench his soul 
with the pleasures of sense and lay the ghost of his disquiet; but in vain. 
In his anguish under the fig tree he heard, or seemed to hear, again and 
again, "Take it up and read. Take it up and read." Springing to his 
feet, he ran to a friend near by who was reading the Word. Seizing the 
volume, his eyes rested on the words, "Let us walk honestly as in the 
day ; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wanton- 
ness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
make not provisions for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." The birth- 
pangs of his conversion were ended ; he found peace in believing; and 
that incident makes an era in the history of the world, for that man 
was none other than Saint Augustine, the influence of whose writings has 
swa3'ed with more might than that of an imperial sceptre the destinies of 
western Christendom for ages. "Therefore, whosoever heareth these say- 
ings of mine and doeth them," saith the Lord, "I will liken him unto a 
wise man which built his house upon a rock ; and the rain descended, 
and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house ; and 
it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth 



these sa3angs of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a fool- 
ish man which built his house upon the sand ; and the rains descended, 
and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house and 
it fell, and great was the fall of it." Woe to Randolph ! he heard and 
would not, and his house fell, and great was the fall of it. Mankind with 
one voice calls Augustine and Chrysostom blessed; they heard, obeyed, 
and their houses stand forever; they were built upon the rock, "Their 
Rock is not as our Rock, our enemies themselves being judges" was the 
boast of Israel at an early day. With how much fuller emphasis may 
Christendom utter it to-day. Compare India with Britain, China with 
the United States, and after all other forces are measured and allowed, 
it will be found that the significant and self-renewing causes for the su- 
periority of the western nations over the eastern are the presence, author- 
ity and influence of the Old and New Testament. "And he shewed me 
a pure river of water of life clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne 
of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either 
side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of 
fruits and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were 
for the healing of the nations." 

xu this beautiful book. Miss Pollard, with admirable tact and skill, 
has made a path by which the children may draw near to that river and 
drink of the water of life ; and the artists whose genius has been laid un- 
der such effective contribution by the liberality of the publisher, will help 
the little ones to gather the leaves and pluck the fruit of that tree. 

Ev^ery home in the land blessed by the presence of bo3'S and girls will 
be illumined and enriched by this volume; every mother who strives to 
train her children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" will be 
signally helped by its ministry. 

The letter-press will quicken the understanding and attune the ear, and 
the treasures of art contained in these pages will arouse the imagination 
and stimulate the memory of the young to lay hold upon and receive all 
that is contained in "the one Book — " "Oldest Choral melody as of the 
heart of mankind ; soft and great as the summer midnight, as the world 
with the seas and stars." 



No man's education can be complete, no human life can have its 
full store of flowers and fruits, which is not begun, continued and ended 
in the ever deepening study and love of the articulate word of God. 

I cannot better close this introduction than with this remarkable pas- 
sage, modified to suit my purpose. "Who will say that the uncommon 
beauty and marvelous English of the household Bible is not the strong- 
hold and safeguard of the literary taste and culture of this country as well 
as its character. It lives like a music that can never be forgotten, like the 
sound of church bells which the reader hardly knows how he can forego. 
Its felicities often seem to be almost things rather than mere words. It 
is part of the national mind, and the anchor of national seriousness. The 
memory of the dead passes into it. The potent traditions of childhood 
are stereotyped into its phrases. The power of all the man's griefs and 
trials are hidden beneath its words. It is the representative of his best 
moments; and all that there has been about him of soft and gentle and 
pure and penitent and good, speaks to him forever out of his English 
Bible. It is his sacred thing, which doubt has never dimmed and contro- 
versy never soiled. It has been to him all along as the silent, yet oh, 
how intelligible ! voice of his guardian angel, and in the length and 
breadth of the land there is not a Christian, with one spark of religious- 
ness about him, whose spiritual Biography is not in his Saxon Bible." 

Washington, April, 1889. 



The Child and the Bible 



By Prof. David Swing. 



THAT reading- and study are very imperfect which do not bring to 
all our young- people a knowledge of the general contents of the 
Bible. The Old and New Testaments contain the best moral and 
religious thought and belief of two important epochs in man's history 
— the Hebrew and Christian periods. It contains the history, the wis- 
dom, the morality, the piety and the hope of that part of the human 
race that made religion the chief aim of the nation and the individual 
The Hebrew people was set apart for the special task of carrying for- 
ward the idea of God. That race gradually separated the real Creator 
from the many false divinities of the barbarian tribes and slowly built up 
that conception of Deity which is seen set forth in the Book of Job and 
in the twenty-third and nineteenth Psalms. The Book of Job and the 
Psalms of David are the grand autumnal fruitage of that vineyard of 
worship in which Enoch and Abraham were toilers in the early spring- 
time of our world. 

No such advance toward the true God would have taken place had 
the Mosaic race moved out of Egypt only to found a State which might 
build elsewhere duplicates of the pyramids of the Nile, or a State which, 
like Babylonia, might live only for luxury, or which, like Greece, might 
live only for the fine arts, or which, like Rome, might find a reason of 
being in wars of conquest. Divinely led, the Hebrew people migrated 
from Egypt that beyond the Red Sea and the Jordan they might found 
a republic or empire for the study and founding of the true religion. 
Israel stands as the wonder of the past, the only nation in all history 
that elected God for its king and went up into a high mountain so as to 



deduce its laws from the thunder and storm and from the sunlight and 
peace of His presence. With what success it achieved its task may be 
learned from reading the meditations in Job and the Psalms, and from 
the lofty rhapsodies of Isaiah and Malachi. When to the sacred records 
of that long day and night of toil and progress are added the coming of 
the divine Christ and the moral phenomena of the first Christian centu- 
ry, a book is composed at which to scoff is a proof of a weak or a wicked 
mind, and in which to read often and thoughtfully is evidence of a will- 
ingness to seek after the living God and to find the best answers to the 
many problems of life and death. 

Much that is valuable in these two testaments is recorded in events 
or in parables, and for all young minds and for nearly all older intellects, 
the doctrines, the alarms, the benedictions, the promises, the hopes are 
treasured up in incidents which might be thrown upon canvas or carved 
out of marble. Faith is seen in the picture of Abraham ; patriotism, 
courage, honor, piety in Moses ; justice in the story of Lot's wife ; eter- 
nal friendship in Ruth ; reckless ambition in Absalom ; resignation in 
Job ; faithfulness in Daniel ; while in the Nev/ Testament the pictures 
offered in the Christ, the Marys, the Johns and St. Paul have been too 
many and too great for art to equal. 

These incidents and persons of the Bible form in the mind of the 

one who knows them a perfect treasure-house filled with the gems of 

true religion. When that gifted writer who composed the hymn " Nearer 

my God to Thee " sat down to her task, what an imperfection would 

have marked her poem had she not known of Jacob's stony pillow and 

beautiful dream! 

Though like a wanderer, 

The sun gone down. 
Darkness be over me, 

My rest a stone. 

And the two following stanzas would have been wanting ; nor is it 
probable that the writer, although a woman most gifted, could have found 
in all literature any compensation for her loss and our loss. In the 
" Battle-Hymn of the Republic," the eloquent writer shows in her first 



line her memory of Simeon, and through his eyes she looked and said : 
" Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord," and in the 
last verse, back comes one of the most beautiful incidents in the New- 
Testament : " In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea." 

Thus have thousands of years, in all, acted as the great time-space 
for attaching the Hebrew and Christian mind and heart to the persons 
and incidents found in the Holy Scriptures. Not to know all these 
Heaven-sent emblems of virtue, wisdom, piety and salvation is not only 
not to be a Christian, but it is to stand afar off from the honor of even 
a common education and the most needful culture. 

For the youth of our country Josephine Pollard, a wonderful friend 
of all those who are living their early years, and as good a writer as she 
is a friend, has detached from the Bible this volume of historic incidents, 
and while they make a continuous record of the old and the new dispen- 
sations, they are separated from that which is too abstract to detain and 
impress the youngest readers. To these interesting events she has made 
the engraver add his art, and the picture of the pencil comes to help the 
picture more hidden in the words. While Christ is speaking of the 
"lost sheep" the picture reveals the lonely mountains and the lamb 
missed from the flock. While the great Teacher is speaking of the fooN 
ish virgins, the picture appears of the thoughtless ones attempting in 
vain to find oil for their lamps. Thus the pictures of history combine 
with the suggestive sketches of the artist and engraver, to make, indeed, 
a Bible for Young People. The authoress came to her task with rare 
fitness, and while the young folks are reading her volume they will find 
not only the religious truths they all need, but they will also find the 
simplicity and power of their own English language. 

Y. F. B.— 2 



An Address to Children. 



Bv John H. Barrows, D.D. 



The bible the book for the young. 



GOD once said : " And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy chil- 
dren." The whole Bible, Old Testament and New, was meant 
to be taught to the boys and girls all over the world. When I 
was in Egypt, fifteen years ago, I lay one beautiful moonlight night on 
the white sand of an island in the river Nile. It was an island away up 
near the equator, and as I lay there I saw beautiful trees with their long, 
leafy branches above me ; I saw green fields reaching out on either side ; 
I heard the old river Nile rippling over the stones in its bed ; and I 
thought of the rich fields of cotton and wheat and sugar-cane and of the 
thousands of palm trees which I had seen along the river, and of all the 
people who had gotten their bread from the waters of the Nile, which, 
covering the sand of the desert, make it fertile and fruitful, and I blessed 
God for the Nile. Where does it come from ? You have learned that 
the Nile springs from the snows of very high mountains away up in 
Abyssinia, and from two immense lakes in the center of Africa, and it 
carries the waters from these mountains and lakes down through Egypt, 
and turns a desert into a garden. 

But there is another river more wonderful than the river of old 
Egypt. It flows down from God out of heaven, and flows over this 
world, and brings with it all that is beautiful and healthful and good. 
The waters of this river are carried off in little canals, and are brought 
into the homes and churches and Sunday-schools ; and wherever they 
go tend to make lives good and happv. Little children love this River 



of God, and dip their cups into it and drink, and there is a voice speak- 
ing- in their ears and saying : " Whosoever will, let him take of the water 
of life freely." There are some people who have traveled round the 
world and seen many very interesting lands and strange and curious 
people — white men, red men, black men, copper-colored men, yellow 
men, but they will tell you that they never saw men where the children 
were happy, where the homes were happy, and where people were try- 
ing to do each other good, unless this River of God went there first. 
This beautiful river that is doing so much for all who live on its banks, 
— it is the Bible, the Word of God, which tells us about Himself and 
about ourselves, which speaks to us of a Savior and of the life after 
death. 

Some years ago a black prince in Africa sent a messenger to Queen 
Victoria, a man who was to ask her what was the reason that England 
was so rich and prosperous ; and she sent back to this African savage 
something that told the whole story. What do you suppose it was ? 
Not a rifle, not a sword, not a steam-engine, not a plow, not a sewing- 
machine, but a copy of the Bible. Let me tell you five things about 
this book, and if you know how to spell the word Bible you will find 
them easy to remember — B-I-B-L-E. 

First, then, the Bible is a beauii/ul hook. I do not mean as to its 
shape and color. It may be very lovely or it may be very plain, as it 
looks to your eye. I have seen Bibles that you could buy for a sixpence, 
and I have a New Testament that I bought for a penny. I have seen 
Bibles which were copied with a pen and filled with pictures on which 
men labored for years, and which you couldn't buy for a thousand dollars. 
When I say that the Bible is a beautiful book, I mean that it is full of 
beautiful thoughts and beautiful pictures and beautiful stories that speak 
to our minds. God often talks with children through pictures. You love 
things that speak to you through the eye, like flowers and birds, and 
your dear mother's face. Just think of some of the pictures God has 
given us in this Book. 

I see, with my mind's eye, a garden, large, fair, with great trees and 



beautiful walks, pure, clear streams with lovely flowers, with animals 
playing about, with two trees that were set apart from the rest, one 
called the Tree of Life and the other the Tree of the Knowledge of 
Good and Evil. I see a man in this garden, and animals passing before 
him and hear him giving them names. Now I see a city with twelve 
gates, each gate a pearl. The city has walls made of twelve kinds of 
jewels, and the streets are of pure gold, and there is no temple in the 
city and no sun, but it is very glorious and wonderful. I see a beautiful 
River and a glorious Sea, and a great multitude of shining ones with 
harps in their hands, and I see a throne and One that sits thereon, more 
lovely and beautiful and mighty and glorious than any words can say. 
The little three-year-old boy before he can read, loves to take his 
picture book and see things that are to him very wonderful, and when he 
gets a little older he loves to take a box of paints and a brush and color 
the pictures in some of his books. The first book I ever colored was 
full of Bible pictures. There was the picture of a man on the top of a 
hill with his son laid on a heap of stones. The father's face was sad, 
and the old man was lifting a knife in his hand ; and there was a sheep 
caught in a bush near by ; and there was the figure of an angel in the 
sky. Then there was the picture of a young man lying on the ground, 
with stones under his head for a pillow, and a stairway or ladder reach- 
ing up to the heavens above, with angels going up and down. There 
was the picture of a boy whose father gave him a coat of many colors, 
and how I liked to daub on the red and yellow and blue paint, and I am 
afraid I took a pin and punched out the eyes in the pictures of the 
brothers of this boy — those brothers who, as you remember, cast him 
into a dry well and afterward sold him as a slave. There was a picture 
of a little boy lying in a little boat which was among the tall grasses of 
a river. There was the picture of a great tent in the desert, with altars 
on which fire was burning, and a great pillar of cloud resting down on 
it in the midst of the tent. And then far over in the book was the pic- 
ture of the best Man who ever lived, taking little children in His arms* 
putting His hands on them and blessing them. 



The Bible is a beautiful book for a great many reasons that I can't 
apeak of now. Its beauty is not like that of an apple blossom, which 
soon fades away. It grows more and more lovely as you grow older. 
I like to see a little child reading with happy face from this book which 
tells of God's love ; but it is lovelier still to see the old grandmother, 
who loved the Bible in childhood, putting on her spectacles and reading 
these words of David : " Oh, how I love thy law ! It is my meditation 
all the day. How sweet are thy words to my taste, yea, sweeter than 
honey to my mouth ! " Two of the most beautiful things that we ever 
see are gold and honey — gold, bright shining, and the honey which 
looks like liquid gold, shut up in little boxes of pearl. Now I am going 
to end what I have to say about the Bible as beautiful, by telling you 
what David said of the words of the Lord that are found in this book : 
" More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold ; 
sweeter also than honey and the honey comb." 

But the Bible is not only a beautiful book for children, but it is an 
interesting book. You like to read it and hear it, partly because it tells 
so much about children, boys and girls like you. You read in this book 
about two brothers, one of whom loved God, and the other did not love 
his brother, and slew him because his own deeds were evil and his 
brother's righteous. You read about a little girl who was taken off in 
a certain war, and became a servant for the wife of a great general. 
He was a leper, and this little girl, believing in God and in God's prophet, 
Elisha, told her mistress that the prophet in Israel could heal her master 
of his awful disease. You read the story of a little boy whose mother 
gave him early to the Lord, and who went to live with an old man in a 
great tent, which was God's house, and who heard the voice of the Lord 
calling to him in the night. Did you never hear God's voice speaking 
to your heart, and do you always answer as did this boy in the taber- 
nacle at Shiloh : "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth " ? 

And in this Book you have read of four boys in the court of the great 
king of Babylon who would not defile themselves with the rich meats 
and the fiery wines, and who formed a boys' temperance society in the 



court of the king, and who rose to high honor and great fame. Above 
all, you read of the perfect Child who was obedient to his earthly father 
and mother, and who did the will of his Heavenly Father, and who grew 
Unto the bravest, noblest, truest, most manly man that ever lived, and who 
died for us all — that Man whose words are, I think, the first words of the 
Bible that you learned by heart. I have heard of a little girl who lived 
where the Bible is not permitted to be read by the children. But she had 
a present of the good Book from her Sunday School teacher. It was 
discovered that she had this book ; it was snatched from her and thrown 
into the fire. She watched it burn, while the tears rolled down her cheeks, 
and turning sadly awa}', said : ''Thank God, there are fourteen chapters 
of the Gospel of John which they can't burn up, for I have committed 
them to memory." 

The Bible interests you because it is full oi wonderful things. It tells 
of a wonderful God who doeth marvelous things for His people. It tells 
of the flood which swept away the wicked world ; of the plagues which 
fell on wicked Egypt ; of the march of two millions of people through the 
Red Sea which God divided ; it tells you of the wonderful life of the chil- 
dren of Israel in the desert, with God's hand feeding them with the birds 
and the bread ; it leads you to the foot of a great mountain, on which 
God came down in a chariot of fire, while the thunders roared and the 
trumpet blown by some mighty angel sounded loud and long, and the 
mountain shook and smoked like a great furnace, and all the people trem- 
bled while God gave the law whicli begins : " I am the Lord that brought 
thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt have no other gods before m.e." 

This Bible has more wonderful things than you will find anywhere 
else. It tells of great battles, of the sun and moon standing still, of cities 
falling down at the blowing of trumpets ; of fire descending from heaven ; 
it tells of shipwrecks and storms, and cruel kings, and men willing to die 
for the name of Jesus. It tells of God's wonderful love, and how the Son 
of God came from heaven to earth and died .'.r us on the Cross and rose 
from the grave. And the best thing, children, about all these Bible won- 
ders, is this, that they are true. A wonderful God doeth wonderful things. 



This is a wonderful world we live in. You children know it and feei it, 
and some older people have got to become much wiser than they now are 
to be as wise as you are. Is not the Bible an interesting- Book ? My 
children will listen longer to the story of the Bible than anything else. 
And as you grow older, if you will only keep on studying the Bible, it wil* 
keep its interest till you die. 

Children who live in cities love to ride, in summer, in the parks and 
see the wonderful figures which the gardeners have made with their plants 
and flowers, the stars and stripes, an elephant, the ball-player, a giraffe, 
a sun-dial, a calendar, an obelisk, sphinxes, and so forth. Now, this book 
is a great garden on which God has made figures that will last as long 
as the world lasts. There is Adam, with his face dark and sorrowful be- 
cause he had sinned ; there is Abel, looking up to that heaven which he, 
first of all men, entered ; there is Noah, a preacher of righteousness, who 
preached many years without converting a soul, but kept on believing 
God ; there is Abraham with a staff in his hand ; there is Moses holding 
the wondrous rod and the book of the law ; there is David with his haro ; 
there is Paul, going forth to preach Christ ; there is John, looking into 
heaven. The children who have the Bible taught them will find great 
interest in these figures. But the greatest interest in the Bible is this, 
that it is a sign-board pointing us to our Father's house in Heaven. 

Now, I come to the third letter. The B-I-^^-L-E — is not only a 
Beautiful book, and an Interesting book, but it is a Blessed book. That 
is, it makes people happy and good, good and happy. A poor man comes 
from England to Chicago with his wife and three children, expecting to 
get work and to make him a lovely home. But he fails to get work and 
he has to sell many things to get bread for his family. At last he is in 
despair, but a good man comes to his house, learns of his need, gives him 
bread and gets him work ; and that night the Englishman says to his wife, 
"Wasn't he a blessed man to help us at this time.-*" But in a few days 
the baby of the house is taken sick and soon dies, and the good man 
comes again and advances money to pay for the funeral of the dear little 
child ; and they say, " Blessed man ! " again. But that night, when all is 



over, and the baby is laid to sleep in the cemetery, the poor man takes 
down the Bible and reads to his wife of Christ's love to children, and of 
the beautiful world beyond, where there is no more crying and death, and 
the wife says, " Oh, isn't that a blessed Book ! " 

Blessed Book. So the mother thinks whose boy has gone off to 
school or to sea. How careful she was to put a copy of the Bible in his 
hands and to get from him the promise to read it every day. She knows 
perfectly well that no great harm can come to him, if he reads and obeys 
what is written in the Word of God. I know a young lady who was very 
much distressed when in Paris several years ago because her hand-bag, a 
little portmanteau, had been lost. And when, after much hunting, it was 
found, she confessed that what distressed her most of all in the thought 
of losing her hand-bag was this, that it contained the little Bible which 
had been given to her when a child and which she had made her daily 
companion ever since. I hope that each of you owns a Bible which, the 
gift of a mother or of some dear friend, is growing more and more blessed 
to you as you go forward into your lives. There is much darkness in the 
future. You will have sorrows as well as joys. The clouds will gather. 
The shadows will sometimes descend and you will wonder where you are 
to walk, or what you are to do. But remember what David has said of 
this blessed Book : "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a guide to my 
path." 

Now, we come to the fourth letter, B-I-B-Z-E. Beautiful, Interest- 
ing, Blessed, L, Life-giving. This is something better than anything we 
have yet said to you about the Bible. It gives life to those who are dead. 
You have seen a patch of ground early in the spring on which nothing 
was growing. But the rain falls, and the warm sunshine pours down, and 
the seeds in that soil burst into life and spring up and cover the earth with 
living plants and flowers. And so God's Word brings its dew and sunshine 
on our cold, dead hearts, and the flowers of love, hope, peace and joy spring 
up. The Bible is like bread, like the manna which came to the children of 
Israel in the desert. It feeds our souls. It gives us life. How does it give 
us life } It teaches us about God and his great love in Jesus, and when we 



come to get from Him the forgiveness of our sins, when we come to know 
God and love God and trust in God, we have life. " This is life eternal," 
said Jesus, " that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ 
whom thou hast sent." Some of you are giving money to send this Book 
to the heathen people. Where this Book goes it gives life like bread sent 
to people who are starving. 

But why do we need the Bible to know about God? Do ^ot the 
stars and the sun and the earth tell us that there must be a God who made 
all these wonderful things and rules them ? Yes, they tell us that God 
is powerful, that He is very great, but they do not tell us that he loves us 
poor sinners. The Egyptians believed in God ; yes, in many gods. 
They were, as we know, a very wise and learned people. And yet this 
people Moses found bowing down and worshiping cats and crocodiles and 
beetles. They did not know the one God who led His people, and who 
said, " Thou shalt have no other gods before me," and who is not only 
holy, but merciful, forgiving our sins. Suppose that you were on an ocean 
steamer way out at sea, and she was sinking into the waves. To what 
or to whom would you pray ? You wouldn't pray to the waves. They 
would not have mercy on you. You wouldn't pray to the stars. They 
wouldn't have mercy on you. You would pray to the God who is revealed 
in this Book, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has said 
that nothing can take us from His love, neither life nor death, land nor 
ocean, nothing can separate us from His love. 

Children, this Book tells us one thing which all need to learn, and 
that is, how we may gain life eternal, how we may escape from death. 
This Book is the story of God's love. It is the story of Jesus, our Savior. 
He that has Christ in his heart has life. " I am the resurrection and the 
life," said Jesus ; " I am the way, the truth and the life." If this Book 
does not lead you to Christ, you have failed to get from it what God gav? 
it for. David said of the Bible: "The law of the Lord is perfect, con- 
verting the soul." 

We come now to the fifth letter, B-I-B-L-^ — Everlasting. The 
Bible is Beautiful, Interesting, Blessed, Life-giving, and Everlasting. It 



is something- that does not wear our. " The word of the Lord endureth 
forever." Children's clothes wear out, as you well know. Your play- 
things break ; your shoes don't last ; your books get torn ; these bodies 
die ; but the Bible lasts. It was good in David's time. It was good 
when Christ was a child, and He read it. It was good in Paul's time, and 
he added to it. It was good when Martin Luther translated it into the 
German language, and William Tyndale translated it into English. It 
lasts the way an oak tree lasts, that grows bigger and bigger and sends 
out little shoots that grow into other oaks and make a mighty forest. 
This Bible is now speaking to men in nearly three hundred different lan- 
guages. It is going to be the one Book of the world, A hundred years 
ago a famous infidel in France, named Voltaire, foolishly published his 
opinion that the religion of the Bible would soon die out, but to-day men 
are using Voltaire's printing-press in Geneva to publish this grand old 
Book. Here is something, children, that is going to last. You can stand 
on it safely. God is in it. When the little girl whose father was an infi- 
del and whose mother was a Christian was dying, and she said to her 
father, " Shall I hold to your principles, father, or shall I turn now to my 
mother's God ? " the father said : " Believe in your mother's God." 

Just before beginning a great battle on the sea, you remember that 
Admiral Nelson hung out a flag with these words for all to see : " England 
expects every man to do his duty." And so our great General, the Cap- 
tain of our salvation, expects that every boy trained up in a Christian 
church will do his duty. He expects that you will take this Beautiful, 
Interesting, Blessed, Life-giving and Eternal book and make it your guide, 
your compass, your rudder, your chart on the great ocean of life. He 
expects that you will be true men and women, honest, pure, obedient to 
God, loving your country and all the world. He expects that you will 
be faithful to duty, that you will be clean in body and in lips and mouth 
and eyes and hea"*t. He expects to meet you and welcome you all in 
glory above. 

A passenger on one of our ocean steamers found an old friend in the 
captain. They talked about one of their old classmates in school. Said 



the passenger : " I could never understand why Will did not succeed. 
He left college well educated, full of life and health, well-to-do. He gave 
up the ministry which he had intended to enter, having fallen in with some 
free-thinking fellows. He studied law, but gave that up and went to 
farming. He became a skeptic. He left his wife and farming and became 
a gold-seeker in California. He left this and went to Idaho. He had lost 
everything, and supported himself by odd jobs, I knew him there. He 
was not a drunkard or a gambler, but he had never succeeded. He tried 
something new several times a year. He was now almost mad in his op- 
position to the religion of the Bible. Soon he died, bitterly rebelling 
against God. It is wonderful that such a man should ever have come to 
such an end." 

The captain was silent for a while, but at last said : " Old sailors 
have a superstition that there are phantom ships (that is, ghosts of ships) 
which cross the sea. I saw a vessel once that showed me how this idea 
may have sprung up. It was a full-rigged bark, driving under full sail. 
There was no one on board. Some disease may have broken out, and 
all the sailors had left, I could not capture her, though I tried. Several 
months later I passed her again. Her topmast was gone ; her sails were 
in rags ; the wind drove her where it would. A year later she came in 
sight one stormy winter night. She was a shattered hulk and went down 
at last in the darkness and storm. She was a good ship at first, but," 
added the captain, " she had lost her rudder." Boys and girls, young 
men and women, I pray you, on this voyage of life, not to lose the ruddef 
by which, in the storm, you may hold the ship true to the harbor 



« • 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

God Made the World, ....... 33 

CHAPTER II. 
The Great Flood ; and a Great Tow-er, • . > « 45 

CHAPTER III. 
A-bra-ham : THE Man of Faith, ...... 54 

CHAPTER IV. 
Ja-cob and E-sau, 66 

CHAPTER V. 
Ja-cob and Ra-chel, ........ 75 

CHAPTER VI. 

Jo-SEPH AND HIS BrETH-REN, 

CHAPTER VII. 

Through the Red Sea and the Wil-der-ness, . 

CHAPTER VIII. 

How JosH-u-A and Jeph-thah Fought for the Lord, • ug 

CHAPTER IX. 
Sam-son, the Strong Man, . . . . . ^ . 122 



80 



95 



Contents. 

CHAPTER X. 
Ruth, ....... 

CHAPTER XI. 



Job. 



e • 



CHAPTER Xn. 

Sam-u-el, the Child of God, 

CHAPTER XHI. 

Sam-u-el, the Man of God, . 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Da-vid and Saul, . . . . 

CHAPTER XV. 

SOL-O-MON. THE WiSE MaN, 

CHAPTER XVI. 

E-LI-JAH, , 

CHAPTER XVII. 

E-LI-SHA, 



• . 



PAGE 



« • • • 



• • • « 



• • 



• • t t 



« • 



138 



145 



153 



163 



185 



193 



• • 202 



. • 210 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Jo-NAH, THE Man who Tried to Hide from God, 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Dan-i-el, 214 

CHAPTER XX. 
The Good Queen Es-ther , 227 



History of the Old Testament 



CHAPTER I. 

GOD MADE THE WORLD. 

Far back in the past, more years than you could 
think or count, God made the world. It did not look 
at first as it does now, for there was no live thing on 
it, no men, beasts, or birds, not a bush, tree or plant, 
but all was dark and drear. 

Then God said, Let there be light! And the 
light came. And God saw the light, and it pleased 
him, and he gave it the name of Day. And when 
the day was gone, and the dark came back to stay 
for a while, he gave the dark spell the name of Night. 
And God did these things on the first day. 

The next day God made the clouds, and the 
sky in which they were to move; and he gave the 
sky a name; he called it Heav-en. 

Then he drove the wa-ters to one place where 
they were both deep and wide, and he called the wa- 
ters Seas, and to the dry land he s^ave the name of 

Y. F. B. -3 •' ^ 



34 History of the Old Testament. 

Earth. And God made the grass to grow up out of 
the earth, and the trees and shrubs that have fruit on 
them. And the grass and the shrubs and the trees 
were to bear seeds, so that when these seeds were put 
in-to the ground more grass and trees and shrubs would 
grow there. God did these things on the third day. 

And God put two great Hghts in the sky, the Sun 
to shine by day, and the Moon to shine by night ; 
and he made the stars, and put each one in its place. 
And these things he did on the fourth day. 

And he made the great whales, and all the fish 
that live in the sea, and the birds that swim on it, as 
well as those that fly through the air, and make their 
nests in the deep woods. And these things God did 
on the fifth day. 

God made the beasts: those that are wild and 
live in the deep, dark woods, far from the homes of 
men; and those that are tame and of use to men, 
and live where men live — such as the horse, the cow, 
the ox and the sheep. And he made the things that 
creep on the ground, and flies and bugs that course 
through the air. 

And then God made Man, and told him that he 
should rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, 
and all else that lived on the earth. And he told 
man that the fruit which grew on the trees and shrubs 
should be his food, while the beasts were to feed on 




AD-AM AND EVB DRIVEN FROM PAR-A-DISE. 



36 History of the Old Testament, 

the leaves, and on the grass that was spread out on 
the earth. These things were done on the sixth day. 

The next day God did no work at all, but made 
It a day of rest. 

God made man out of the dust of the earth, and 
breathed in him till the man breathed and moved, 
and showed signs of life. Then God made a gar-den 
for man to live in, where all sorts of trees grew that 
were nice to look at, and that bore fruit good to eat. 
And this place was called E-den. And through it 
flowed a large stream that kept the earth moist,, 

And God took Ad-am, the man he had made, 
and put him in the gar-den, and told him to take care 
of it. He told him he might eat of the fruit that 
grew on all the trees but one. God said he must 
not eat of that tree, for if he did he would be sure to 
die. And all the birds and beasts came to Adam, 
that he might give them their names. And the 
names he gave them are those by which they are 
known to this day. 

And God saw it was not good for man to be 
a-lone ; he should have some one to be with him and 
help him. So he had a deep sleep fall on Ad-am, 
and while he slept God took out of his side a bone, 
and out of this bone he made a wo-man. Then he 
brought this wo-man he had made to Ad-am, and 
she was his wife. 



God Made the World. 37 

Now there was in this gar-den of E-den a great 
big snake. And this snake spoke to the wo-man — 
as Sa-tan speaks to us — to tempt her to sin. 

The snake said: Has God told you not to eat of 
all the trees in the gar-den ? 

And the wo-man said that they might eat of all 
but one ; if they ate of that or touched it they would 
be sure to die. The snake told them they should 
not die, and that God did not wish them to eat of it 
for fear they would grow wise, and know more than 
he thought was good for them. 

The wo-man heard what the snake said, and when 
she saw that the tree was nice to look at and the fruit 
seemed good to eat, she gave no thought to what 
God had said, but took some of the fruit and ate of it ; 
she gave some to the man, Ad-am, and he did eat. 

In a short time they heard a voice, and knew that 
God spoke to them. Yet they did not come near 
him when they heard his voice, but ran and tried to 
hide from him. 

But God spoke once more, and said to the man, 
Where art thou } 

And Ad-am said, I heard thy voice, and my fear 
was so great that I hid from thee. 

And God said, Did'st thou eat of the tree I told 
thee not to eat of? 

And the man said, She whom thou dids't give 



38 History of the Old Testament. 

me to be with me brought me some of the fruit, and 
I did eat. 

And God said to the man's wife, What is this 
that thou hast done? 

And she told God what the snake had said, and 
how she came to eat of the fruit, and God was wroth 
with them all. He said the snake should crawl on 
the ground and eat dust all the days of its life ; and 
he told the wife she should know what it was to be 
sick and sad, and should have much grief and care. 

And God drove the man and his wife out of 
E-den, and would let them live no more in that fair 
place. And he sent an-gels to keep watch, and a 
sword of fire that would turn in all ways, so that the 
two whom God for their sins drove out of E-den 
could not get back to the home they had lost. 

And God told Ad-am that as he had paid heed 
to what his wife said, and did eat of the tree which 
the Lord had told him not to eat of, the ground 
should bear no more fruit for him by it-self, as it had 
done up to this time, and Ad-am would have to work 
hard all his life to raise food to eat, and when he died he 
would go back to the dust out of which he was made. 

But God told Ad-am and his wife that there was 
a way by which their souls might live on high when 
their flesh was laid in the ground. He said he 
would send One from the sky who would give his 
life for theirs : that is, he would be put to death for 




:iiil|il'i!;iiiiun.^,,,y(i; ii;!'i 



God Made the World. 



41 



their sins. Then if they would turn from their sins, 
and give their hearts to the One who was to save 
them, God 
would not turn 
his face from 
them, but when 
they died they 
would have a 
home with him, 
and have no 
thought of sin. 
So Ad-am 
went forth to 
till the land, 
and he gave his 
wife the name 
of Eve. And 
they made 
coats out of the 
skins of beasts. 
Ad-am and 
his wife had 
two sons : Cain 

d H Ll Xi- - U C 1 . j,^jj^ ^j^j3 A-BEL OF-FER-ING SAC-KI-FI-CES TO GOD. 

When they 

grew up to be men, Cain, who was the first-born, took 

care of a farm ; A-bel kept a flock of sheep. 




42 History of the Old Testament, 

They both had bad hearts, and at times would be 
led in-to sin, just as Ad-am and his wife had been. 
But when A-bel did wrong he was grieved, and 
sought to make peace with God. One day he brought 
a lamb from his flock, and killed it, and burnt it on 
a heap of stones. And the smoke went up on high. 

This act of A-bel's pleased God, for it was the 
sign that a Lamb was to be sent to the world to save 
men from their sins. 

But Cain kept on in his sins, and paid his vows 
to God not with a lamb, but with fruit or grain out 
of the field. This did not please God, and the 
smoke went not up on high. When Cain saw this 
he was in a rage, and showed by his looks that he 
was wroth with God. Yet God spoke to him in a 
kind voice, and said. Why art thou wroth ? and why 
art thou so cast down ? 

If Cain did right God told him he would be 
pleased with his gift ; but if he did not do right, the 
fault was his own. 

Then Cain was wroth with A-bel, for he saw that 
God was pleased with A-bel's gift and not with his. 
And one day when both of them were out in the 
field he rose up and slew A-bel, and the blood ran 
out of A-bel's wounds and sank deep in the ground. 

As soon as this deed was done, God spoke to 
Cain, and said : Where is A-bel ? 



God Made the World, 



43 



ft? 



Cain said, I know not. He is not in my care. 
Then God, who had seen the crime, and knew just 
how bad his heart was, said to Cain : What hast 
thou done ? 
The voice of A- 
bel's blood cries 
to me from out 
the ground." 

And God 
told Cain that 
for his great sin 
he should move 
from place to 
place, as one 
who was in fear 
of his life, and 
had no home to 
stay in. And 
if he should 
plant aught in 
the field to bear 
food, it should 
not grow well. 
Weeds would come up and choke it, or it would bear 
leaves and no fruit, so that Cain would not have 
much to eat. 

And Cain said if God drove him here and there 




THE DEATH OF A-BEL. 



44 History of the Old Testament. 

on the face of the earth, and would not take care of 
him, all those who met him would want to kill him. 

But God said the man who hurt Cain would have 
a worse fate. God set a mark on Cain ; what kind 
of a mark it was we are not told, but those who saw 
it would know it was Cain, and it would bring to 
their minds chat God had said no man should kill him. 

Ad-am lived to be an old, old man, and had a 
large flock of chil-dren, who grew up and were wed, 
and they went off and made homes, and day by day 
were folks born in-to the world. When Ad-am died 
he was laid in the ground and went back to dust, as 
God had said he should when he went out of E-den. 

One of the men who lived in those days was 
named E-noch. It is said of him that he walked 
with God. That means that he loved God, and 
thought of him, and kept near him all the time, and 
did his best to please him. 

And E-noch did not die, but God took him up 
to be with him while he still lived, just as if he were 
to take up one of us. 

And E-noch had a son whose name was Me-thu- 
se-lah, who died at a great old age. In those times 
men lived more years than they do now, but in all 
the years since the world was made no man has been 
known to live to be as old as Me-thu-se-lah. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE GREAT FLOOD; AND A GREAT TOWER. 

In the course of time, when there came to be 
more folks In the world, they grew fond of sin. 
They did not love 



God, or try to please 
him. And God was 
wroth with them, and 
said he would send 
a flood that would 
drown the world, 
and there should 
not be any dry land 
left for men, beasts, 
or birds to live on. 

But though most 
of the folks at that 
time were as bad as 
they could be, there 
was one good man 
in their midst, and 
his name was No-ah. 

And God loved No-ah and told him what he 
meant to do. And God bade No-ah build an ark. 

45 




THE ARK. 



46 History of the Old Testament, 

This was a boat. It was to be made large, with 
rooms in it, and a great door on its side. And it 
was to be quite high, and to have a roof on top. 

And God told No-ah when the ark was done he 
and his sons and their wives should go in it. 

And he told No-ah to take in with him two of 
each kind of bird and of beast, and of bug, and of 
things that crept, and to take care of them in the ark 
so long as the flood should be on the earth ; for all 
that were not in the ark would be sure to be drowned. 

So No-ah set out at once to build the ark; and 
it took him a great while to build it. When not at 
work on the ark, he would talk of God, and of his 
plan to send a flood to wash sin out of the world, and 
would urge the folks to give up their sins, and lead 
good lives. But they paid no heed to his words, 
and went from bad to worse all the time that No-ah 
was at work on the ark. 

When it was done God told No-ah to come in-to 
the ark, for he saw he was a good man who had 
done his best to serve him, and to bring the birds 
and beasts with him. For in a few days he would 
send the rain on the earth, and all that was left on it 
would be drowned. 

So No-ah did as God told him. And when he 
and his wife, and his three sons and their wives, and 
the birds and the beasts, both small and great, had 



48 History of the Old Testament. 

passed through the great door of the ark, God shut 
them in. 

At the end of a week the rain set in, and did not 
stop for more than a month. The rain seemed to 
pour out of the sky, and all the springs, the large and 
small streams, and the great seas, rose up and swept 
through the length and breadth of the land. They 
came to where the ark was, and went round and 
round it, and rose so high that the ark was borne 
from its place and set a-float on the great wide sea. 

Then those who had paid no heed to No-ah, but 
had kept on in their sins, were in a sad plight. The 
flood had come, and they knew now that all that he 
had told them was true. How glad they would 
have been to go with him in the ark. But it was too 
late. They ran in wild haste to the tops of the hills 
in hopes to find there a safe place. But still the 
floods rose and rose till there was no place for them 
to go, and all those not in the ark were drowned, 
and there was not a bit of dry land in the whole wide 
world. 

But God took care of No-ah, and those who were 
with him, and kept them safe till the floods went 
down. At the end of five months the sea had gone 
down so much that the ark stood high and dry on a 
mount known as Ar-a-rat. It stood there for at 
least two months, and at the end of that time the 



The Great Flood ; and a Great Tower. 



49 



5ea had gone down so that tops of high hills could 
be seen here and there. 

And No-ah sent forth a ra-ven, and the bird flew 
this way and that, 
but came not back 
to the ark. 

Then No-ah 
sent forth a dove, 
that he might find 
out if the ground was 
yet dry. And the 
dove flew here and 
there in search of 
green things, but 
found not a tree in 
sight, and naught 
but cold hard rock, 
and so she flew back 
to the ark and No-ah 
put out his hand and 
took her in. 

At the end of a 
week No-ah sent out 
the dove once more, and at the close of the day 
she came back with a leaf in her mouth. 

As soon as No-ah saw the leaf he knew that the 
waves had gone down or the dove could not have 

Y. F. B.— 4 




THE RE-TURN OF THE DOVE. 



50 History of the Old Testament. 

found it. And he knew that God had sent the dove 
back to him that he might know the ground would 
soon be dry. 

In a few days he sent the dove out for the third 
time, but she did not come back; and No-ah was 
sure then that the ground was dry, and that God 
meant that for a sign that he should leave the ark in 
which he had been shut up so long. 

And God spoke to No-ah and told him to come 
out of the ark, and to bring out all that had been in 
there with him. And No-ah did so, and he built 
up a heap of stones as A-bel had done, on which he 
laid beasts and birds, and burnt them, which was the 
way in which man gave thanks to God in those 
days. 

And No-ah's heart was full of praise to God, 
w^ho had kept him, and those who were near and 
dear to him, safe from the flood, while all the rest of 
the world was drowned. 

And God told No-ah and his sons that they 
should rule on the earth, and might kill the beasts 
and use the flesh for food. Up to this time those 
who dwelt on the earth had lived on the fruits of 
trees and such things as grew out of the ground, and 
did not know the taste of meat. 

And God told No-ah that he would send no 
more floods to drown the world as this one had done. 



The Greai Flood; ajid a Great Tower. 



51 



And he gave No-ah a sign that he would keep his 

word, so that when No-ah saw it he would have no 

fear of a flood. ^ 

And this sign 

was the rain- 
bow, which God 

set up in the sky 

as a bow of hope 

to No-ah and to 

all the world. 
No-ah lived 

for years and 
years af-ter the 

flood, and died 
at a ripe old age. 
The tribes of 
No-ah grew so 
fast that the 
world was quite 
well filled once 
more. 

And you 
would think they 
would have been 
glad to serve God, and to do right in his sight. But 
their hearts were full of sin, and they went on as 
those had done who were drowned in the flood. 




NO-AH'S SAC-RI-FICE. 



The Great Flood ; and a Great Tower. 



53 







mmkim^. 



At this time all those who dwelt on the earth 
spoke but one tongue; that is, they used the same 
kind of speech. 

Now these tribes did not stay in one spot all the 
time, but would pack 
up their tents and move 
from place to place as 
they chose. 

And as they went 
to the east they came 
to a plain in the land of 
Shi-nar. And they 
said. Let us make brick 
and build a high tow-er 
that shall reach up to 
the sky. And let us 
make a name, so that 
when we go from this 
place it will be known 
what great men were 
here, and what great 
deeds they could do. 

And they set to 
work to build it. God, 
who read their hearts, knew that sin was at work 
there, and that the tow-er they meant to build was 
not to serve him in, or to add to his praise. So he 




BUILD-ING THE TOW-ER OF BA-BEL. 



54 Histoty of the Old Testament. 

was not pleased with their work, and chose a strange 
way to stop them. He made them all at once speak 
in strange tongues. This one could not tell what 
that one said, and they made such a noise that it 
grew to be just a ba-bel of sound. And that is why 
it was called the tow-er of Ba-bel. 



CHAPTER HI. 

ABRAHAM : THE MAN OF FAITH. 

There dwelt in the land of Ur a man whose 
name was A-bra-ham. And in that land the men 
did not serve the true God, but had set up false gods 
to whom they paid their vows. 

And God told A-bra-ham to leave his home and 
go to a land which he would show him. A-bra-ham 
did not know where the land was, but he had great 
faith, and knew that God would take care of him and 
bring him to the land he had told him of. 

So A-bra-ham took Sa-rah, his wife, and his 
bro-ther's son, whose name was Lot, and they set out 
for the land which God had said he would show 
him. 

A-bra-ham was a rich man, and so was Lot, and 
thev had a great wealth of flocks, and of herds, and 



\ Abraham : the Man of Faith. 5 5 

of tents. And they each had a large force of herds- 
men. And these herds-men were at strife. 

And A-bra-ham told Lot it was best that they 
should part ; and he said to him, Choose where thou 
shalt go. If thou wilt take the left hand I will goto 
the right, and if thou wilt go to the right hand then 
I will go to the left. 

So Lot looked round and saw that the plain of 
Jor-dan was rich in grass, and would be a fine place 
for him and his herds to dwell in; so he made his 
choice at once, and went to live there. 

Two large towns were on this plain, Sod-om and 
Go-mor-rah. The men in Sod-om were full of sin, 
yet Lot, though a good man, went to live there that 
he might have a chance to add to his wealth. 

As soon as Lot had gone, the Lord told A-bra- 
ham that he would give to him and his heirs all that 
land as far as he could see it. And the tribe of 
A-bra-ham would be so great that no one could 
count them. 

Now Sa-rah A-bra-ham*s wife, had a hand-maid 
— that is, a maid-of-all-work — whose name was Ha- 
gar; and she came from E-gypt. Ha-gar did Sa- 
rah a great wrong, and Sa-rah drove her from the 
house, and she fled to the woods. 

An an-gel of the Lord found Ha-gar there by a 
spring of wa-ter, and said to her, From whence 



S6 History of the Old Testament. 

didst thou come ? and where wilt thou go ? And she 
said she had fled from Sa-rah, whose maid she was. 

And the an-gel said she must go back to Sa-rah 
and do as she wished her to do. And he told Ha- 
gar she would have a son whose name would be 
Ish-ma-el, and that he would live out of doors and be 
at strife with all men. So Ha-g^ar went back to Sa- 
rah, and in due time God gave her a son, who was 
called Ish-ma-el. 

When A-bra-ham was an old man, God told him 
that he and Sa-rah should have a son, who should 
be called I-saac. 

One day at the hour of noon, when A-bra-ham 
sat by the door of his tent, he looked up and saw 
three men quite near him. Then he ran out to 
meet them, and bowed his face to the ground. And 
A-bra-ham bade them sit down and rest, and let 
some wa-ter be brought that they might wash their 
feet. 

No one in those days wore such shoes as are 
worn now. Some went bare-foot, and some wore 
just a sole tied to the foot with strings, which did 
not keep off the dust and dirt as our shoes do. 

So when one came in from a long walk the first 
thing he did was to bathe his feet, as that gave rest 
and ease, and when guests came the bowl was 
brought for their use. 



Abraham : the Man of Faith. 



57 



And A-bra-ham brought them food to eat, and 
stood by to wait on them ; and when they had had 
their fill, went 
with them to 
show them the 
way. 

In those 
days the Lord 
came down on 
the earth and 
spoke with men, 
and it is thought 
that one of these 
three was the 
Lord, and the 
two with him 
were an-gels. 

And the 
Lord told 
A-bra-ham that 
he meant to burn 
Sod-om and Go- 
mor-rah for the 
sins of those 
who dwelt there. This made A-bra-ham sad, and he 
said there might be a few good men there, and he 
begged the Lord to spare the towns for their sakes. 




THE AN-GELS VIS-IT. 



58 History of the Old Testament, 

The Lord said he would do so if ten good men 
could be found there. 

And the Lord left A-bra-ham and he went back 
to his tent. At the close of the day, Lot sat in the 
gate of Sod-om and two an-gels came there. And as 
soon as Lot saw them he rose up to meet them and 
bowed down with his face to the ground. 

Then these an-gels told Lot to take out of Sod- 
om all those who were dear to him, and flee in great 
haste, as the Lord meant to set the place on fire. 

They were told not to look back, but while on 
their way Lot's wife turned her head, which was a 
sign that her heart was in Sod-om, and she died 
where she stood, and turned to salt. 

But Lot and his two girls reached Zo-ar at dawn 
of the next day. Then the Lord rained fire on Sod- 
om and Go-mor-rah, and they were burnt up in fierce 
flame, with all that lived there, and all that grew out 
of the ground. 

In due time God gave A-bra-ham the son he had 
said he should have. 

And the child grew, and as soon as it could eat, 
A-bra-ham made a great feast. And at this feast 
Sa-rah saw that Ha-gar's son, Ish-ma-el, made fun 
of her bo}, and she begged A-bra-ham to cast him 
out. A-bra-ham did not wish to do this, but God 
spoke to him and told him to do as Sa-rah had said, 



Abraham : the Man of Faith. 



59 



for I-saac was to be the true heir. So the next day 
A-bra-ham gave food and drink to Ha-gar and sent 
her and her child out of his house. 

And Ha- 
gar took her 
boy and went 
to the waste 
lands of Beer- 
she-ba. 

And when 
there was 
nought for the 
child to drink, 
he grew weak, 
and was like 
to die. And 
Ha-gar laid 
him 'neath a 
bush and went 
off and sat 
down and hid 
her face, and 
wept, for she 
loved her boy 
very much and did not want to see him die. 

And a voice spoke to Ha-gar out of the sky, and 
said, What ails thee, Ha-gar? Fear not, for God 




DE-STRUC-TION OF THE CIT-IES OF THE PLAIN. 



6o History oj the Old Testament. 

hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Rise, 
Hft up the lad and hold him in thine arms. 

And the voice told her that her son should be 
the head of a great tribe. And as she raised her 
eyes she saw a well of wa-ter, and she ran to it and 
gave her son a drink and he was soon strong and 
well once more. 

And God was kind to Ish-ma-el, and he grew, 
and made his home in the woods, and came to have 
great skill with the bow. 

Now it was God's wish to try the faith of A-bra- 
ham to him. 

And he told him to take his son, I-saac, and go 
to the land of Mo-riah, and lay him on the al-tar he 
was to build on one of the mounts there. It was 
not a hard task to kill a lamb, and to burn it so that 
the smoke of it should rise up to God, like praise 
from the hearts of men. But how could A-bra-ham 
take his own dear son, I-saac, and lay him on the 
wood, and let him be burnt up like a lamb ? 

Yet God told him to do it, and A-bra-ham knew 
that it was safe for him to do as God said. 

So he rose the next day and took two of his 
young men with fiim, ancf I-saac his son, and cut the 
wood the right length, and set out for the mount of 
which God had told him. 

And as they drew near the place he took the 



62 History of the Old Testament. 

wood from the ass and laid it on I-saac's back, and 
took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two 
went up the mount. 

Now I-saac did not know what the Lord had 
told A-braham to do, nor why his fa-ther took him 
up to the mount. And he said. Here is the fire and 
the wood, but where is the lamb? 

And A-bra-ham said. My son, God will give us 
the lamb we need. 

And when they came to the place, A-bra-ham 
piled up the stones and put the wood on them, and 
bound I-saac and laid him on the wood. 

Then he drew forth the knife to kill his son. 
And just then a voice from the sky cried out, A-bra- 
ham ! A-bra-ham ! And A-bra-ham said. Here am I. 

And the Lord told him to do no harm to I-saac, 
for now he knew that A-bra-ham loved him, since he 
would not spare his own dear son if it was God's 
wish that he should give him up. 

And as A-bra-ham turned his head he saw a ram 
that was caught in a bush, and he took the ram and 
laid it on the wood, and burnt it in-stead of his son. 

At the end of a few years A-bra-ham went to live 
at Heb-ron. And Sa-rah died there. 

When I-saac grew up to be a man, A-bra-ham 
did not wish him to take a wife from the land cf Ca- 
naan where they served strange gods. 



Abraham : the Man of Faith. 



63 



So he sent one of his men to the land where he 
used to hve to bring back a wife for I-saac. 

And as he drew near to a large town in that 
land he made his cam- 
els kneel down by a 
well. And it was the 
time of day when the 
wo-men of the place 
went out to draw wa- 
ter from the well. 

And the man 
whom A-bra-ham had 
sent, asked God to 
help him, and to let 
him know which one 
of .them was to be 
I-saac's wife. And 
he said he would ask 
one of them for a 
drink, and if she was 
kind and gave him a 
drink, and let his 
cam-els quench their 
thirst, then he should 
know that she was the one God chose to be the wife 
of A-bra-ham's son. 

And he raised his heart to God and said, O 




RE-BEK-AH AT THE WELL. 



^4 History of the Old Testameni. 

Lord God of A-bra-ham, give me good speed this 
day. 

And while he yet spoke a fair young maid named 
Re-bek-ah went down to the well and came up with 
the jar she had filled. And the man ran to meet 
her, and said to her, Let me drink, I pray thee. 

And she said, Drink, my Lord, and held the jar 
in her hand so that he could drink with ease. 

Then she said, I will give thy cam-els a drink; 
and she went down to the well and drew for all the 
cam-els. And the man stood still, and was yet 
in doubt if this was the maid whom God chose to be 
Lsaac's wife. 

And as soon as the cam-els had drunk their fill, 
the man took a gold ear-ring, and two bands of gold 
for the wrists, and gave them to Re-bek-ah. And 
he said. Whose child art thou ? tell me, I pray 
thee. And is there room in thy sire's house for us 
to lodge in ? 

The maid said that her sire's name was Beth- 
u-el, and that there was no lack of straw and food, 
and there was room in the house where he and his 
men might lodge. 

The man was glad when he heard this, for he 
knew the Lord had led him, and had brought him 
to the house to which he was sent. And he bowed 
his head and gave thanks. 




RE-BEK-AH JOUR-NEY-IXG TO I SAAC 



66 History of the Old Testament, 

The next day Re-bek-ah and her maids went 
with A-bra-ham's head man. And they came to the 
land of Ca-naan. 

At the close of the day I-saac went to walk in the 
fields, and as he raised his eyes he saw the cam-els 
on their way home, and he went out to meet them. 

Re-bek-ah said to the man with whom she rode, 
What man is this that comes through the field ta 
meet us? 

And the man told her that it was A-bra-ham's 
son, I-saac, 

Then the maid drew her veil round her so as to 
hide her face, and came down from the cam-el. And 
I-saac took her to his house and made her his wife. 
And A-bra-ham gave all that he had to I-saac; and 
when he died he was laid by the side of Sa-rah, his 
wife, in the tomb he had bought at Mach-pe-lah. 

And to this day no one has had such faith or 
trust in God as did A-bra-ham. 



CHAPTER IV. 



JA-COB AND E-SAU. 



I-SAAC and Re-bek-ah had two sons. Their 
names were Ja-cob and E-sau. E-sau was the fixrst- 




THE MEET-ING OF I-SAAC AND RE-BEK-AH. 



(67) 



68 History of the Old Testament. 

born, and in those days the first-born son had what 
was called the birth-right. This made him chief of 
all the rest, and heir to the most of his sire's wealth. 

When the boys grew up to be men, E-sau took 
to the fields and to out-door sports, while Ja-cob 
was a plain man and dwelt in tents. And I-saac 
was fond of E-sau, who killed the deer, and brought 
him the meat to eat. But Re-bek-ah was more fond 
of Ja-cob. 

One day Ja-cob had made some food called pot- 
tage, and E-sau came in from the field and said. 
Feed me, I pray thee, with that pot-tage, for I am 
faint. 

And Ja-cob said. Sell me thy birth-right. 

And E-sau said, I am at the point of death, so 
what good will a birth-right do me.f^ 

So he sold his birth-right to Ja-cob — which was 
a wrong thing for him to do — and took the bread 
and meat, and ate and drank, and then went on his 
way. 

Now there came a time when I-saac was an old 
man, and his eyes were dim, for he had not long to 
live. And he called E-sau to his bed-side and told 
him to go out with his bow and shoot a deer and bring 
him some of the meat he was so fond of, that he 
might eat it and bless E-sau ere he died. 

And Re-bek-ah heard what I-saac had said to 



Jacob and Esau. 



69 



E-sau, and she told it to Ja-cob. And she said to 
him, Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence 
two good kids, and I will make such a dish as thy 
fa-ther loves. And 
thou shalt bring it to 
him that he may eat, 
and that he may bless 
thee ere his death. 

So Ja-cob did as 
he was told, and 
brought the kids to his 
ther that she 
cook them in 

way that would 
please the good man 
of the house. 

Then Re-bek-ah 
put some of E-sau's 
clothes on Ja-cob, and 
put the skins of goats 
on his hands, for 
E-sau's hands had on 
them a thick coat of 
hair. And then Ja-cob took the meat and the 
bread and went in to his fa-ther. 

And I-saac said. Who art thou, my son? 

And Ja-cob said, I am E-sau, thy first-born. 



mo 

might 

a 




I-bAAC SPEAK-ING TO E-SAU. 



70 History of the Old Testament. 

Rise, I pray thee, and eat of the deer's meat I have 
brought, that thy soul may bless me. 

And I-saac said to Ja-cob, How is it that thou 
hast found it so soon, my son ? 

And he said, The Lord thy God brought it to me. 

And I-saac said to Ja-cob, Come near, I pray 
thee, that I may feel thee, my son, and know if thou 
be my son E-sau or not. And Ja-cob went near to 
his fa-ther and he felt him, and said. The voice is 
Ja-cob's voice, but the hands are the hands of E-sau. 

And he said. Art thou in truth my son E-sau? 

And Ja-cob said, I am. 

And he said, Bring near the food, and I will eat, 
that my soul may bless thee. 

And Ja-cob brought it near to him, and he did 
eat, and he brought him wine and he drank. 

And his fa-ther said to him. Come near now, and 
kiss me, my son. 

And he came near, and gave him the kiss. Then 
the old man asked God to bless this whom he 
thought was his first-born, and make him great, and 
give him all good things. 

Ja-cob was scarce yet gone out from his fa-ther 
when E-sau came in from the hunt. And he 
brought m a nice dish of meat, and said, Let my fa- 
ther rise and eat of the flesh of the deer, that thy 
soul may bless me. 



Jacob and Esau. 



73 



And I-saac said, Who art thou? 

And he said, I am thy son, thy first-born, E-sau. 

And I-saac shook hke a leaf, and said, Who? 
Where is he that took deer's meat and brought it to 
me so that I did eat ere 



bless him? 
he shall be 




this, and 
Yea, and 
blest. 

When E-sau heard 
these words he cried out 
with great grief, and said 
to his fa-ther, Bless me 
too, O my fa-ther! 

But I-saac said that 
he could not take from 
Ja-cob what was now 
his — though he had won 
it through fraud. 

And E-sau said in 
his heart. My fa-ther will 
soon be dead, and then 
I will kill Ja-cob. 

And these words 
were told to Re-bek-ah, and she sent for Ja-cob and 
said to him that E-sau meant to kill him, and he 
must leave home at once and go and stay with her 
bro-ther La-ban till E-sau's wrath had cooled. 



ja-cob's dream. 



74 History of the Old Testament. 

And Ja-cob went out from Beer-she-ba. 

And as he went on his way he came to a place 
where bethought he would lie down and rest. The 
sun was set, the day had been a long one, and he 
was quite worn out. So he put some stones for his 
head to rest on, and was soon sound a-sleep. 

And while he slept he had a strange dream. He 
saw a flight of steps that stood on the ground, the top 
of which was far, far up in the sky. And bright an- 
gels went up and down the steps. And the Lord 
stood at the top, and said, I am with thee, and will 
take care of thee, and will bring thee back to this 
land, for I will not leave thee till I have done that 
which I have told thee of. 

And Ja-cob woke out of his sleep, and said, 'Tis 
true the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. 

And he was in great fear, and said. This is the 
house of God, and this is the gate of heav-en ! 

Then he rose up and took the stone on which 
his head had lain and set it up on end, and he 
poured oil on top of it. And he gave to that place 
the name of Beth-el, and made a vow to love and 
serve God all the rest of his life. 

And though he had done wrong, God for-gave 
him, and he was known as a great and good man. 



CHAPTER V, 



Jacob and Rachel. 

As Ja-cob went on his way to the East he came 
to a well that was out 
in the field, near which 
lay three great flocks 
of sheep. And there 
was a great stone on 
top of the well. And 
the men who took care 
of the flocks would roll 
the stone from the 
mouth of the well, and 
give drink to the sheep. 
Then they would roll 
the stone back to the 
mouth of the well. 

Ja-cob said to the 
men, Whence do ye 
come? 

And they told him. 

And he said, Know 
ye. La-ban, the son of 
Na-hor? 




RA-CHEL AND JA-COB AT THE W£U» 



And they said. We know him. 



75 



76 History of the Old Testament, 

And he said, Is he well? 

And they said, He is well. And there is one of 
his girls now, Ra-chel, and she comes this way with 
her sheep. 

While Ja-cob yet spake with the men, Ra-chel 
came up with the sheep that she took care of. And 
when Ja-cob saw her, he came near, and drew the 
stone from the mouth of the well, and gave drink to 
the whole of her flock. 

And as soon as he told her that he was Re-bek- 
ah's son, she ran home with the news. 

And when La-ban heard that his sis-ter's son was 
near, he ran out to meet him, and threw his arms 
round his neck and kissed him, and brought him 
to his house. 

And Ja-cob dwelt there for the space of a month. 

And La-ban said to Ja-cob, Thou art bone of my 
bone and flesh of my flesh, but it is not right for thee 
to serve me for nought. Tell me how much I shall 
pay thee? 

Now La-ban had two girls — Le-ah and Ra-chel. 
And Ja-cob was in love with Ra-chel; and he said 
to La-ban, I will serve thee seven years if thou wilt 
give me Ra-chel for a wife. 

And La-ban said it would please him to have 
Ja-cob for a son-in-law, and Ja-cob served sev-en years 
for R^-'^hel, and they seemed to him but a few days, 



Jacob and Rachel. 77 

SO great was his love for her. And at the end ol 
that time Ja-cob said to La-ban, Give me my wile, 
for 1 have served thee my full time. 

And La-ban made a feast, and brought in Le-ah 
to be Ja-cob's wife. In those days the bride wore a 
veil, and the man she wed could not look on her face 
till the next day. 

So Ja-cob did not find out tJiis trick till the next 
morn, and then he came in great wrath to La-ban 
and said. What is this thou hast done to us? Did I 
not serve with thee for Ra-chel ? and why did'st thou 
cheat me ? 

And La-ban said. In our land the first-born must 
wed the first. Serve me sev-en years more, and thou 
shalt have Ra-chel for a wife. And Ja-cob did so, 
and though he dwelt with both — which was thought 
to be no sin in those days — he was far more fond of 
Ra-chel than he was of Le-ah. 

Le-ah bore Ja-cob a host of sons, but it was years 
ere Ra-chel had a child. And this made her sad. 
But at last she had a son, and she called his name 
Jo-seph. And as soon as Jo-seph was born Ja-cob 
told La-ban to give him his wives and all the goods 
that he owned, and let him go back to the land he 
came from. 

But La-ban begged him to stay. He had found, 
he said, that the Lord had blest him for Ja-cob's 



78 History of the Old Testament, 

sake, and he might have some of the land and the 
flocks if he would still serve him. 

So Ja-cob took care of La-ban's flocks, and had 
sheep and goats of his own, and things went well 
for a time. 

But one day Ja-cob heard La-ban's sons say some 
hard things of him, and he saw that La-ban did not 
give him the kind looks that he used to. And he 
felt that the time had come for them to part. And 
the Lord told Ja-cob to go back to the land he came 
from, and he would deal well with him. And Ja- 
cob took his wives, and the flocks and the goods he 
owned, and set out for the land of Ca-naan. 

Ja-cob sent one of his men to E-sau to say that 
he was on his way home, and was in hopes he would 
find grace in his sight. 

And the man brought back word that K-sau was 
on his way to meet Ja-cob with a large force of men. 
And Ja-cob thought of the wrongs he had done his 
broth-er, and was in great fear of him. 

He sought the help of God, and God told him 
what to do. And Ja-cob sent great droves of sheep 
and goats, and ewes and rams, and camels and colts, 
and cows, and choice ones from all his live stock, as 
a gift to E-sau. 

And at night, when no one else was near, a man 
whose face shone with a strange light, came to J a- 



Jacob and Rachel. 



79 



cob and wound his arms round him and tried to 
throw him. And the two strove so hard that 
Ja-cob's thigh was put out of joint. 

And as it grew 
light the man said, Let 
me go, for the day 
breaks. 

Ja-cob said, I will 
not let thee go till thou 
hast blest me. 

And the man said, 
What is thy name? 
And he said, Ja-cob. 

And he said Thy 
name shall be no more 
Ja-cob but Is-ra-el, for 
as a prince thou hast 
pow-er with God and 
v/ith men. 

And when he had 
blest Ja-cob he went 
his way. And Ja-cob 
gave the place the name 
of Pe-ni-el, for, said he, 
I have seen God face to face and my life has been 
spared. For Ja-cob knew by this that E-sau would 
not kill him. 




THE MEET-ING OF JA-COB AND E-SAU. 



8o History of the Old Testament. 

When Ja-cob was an old, old man Ra-chel bore 
him a son; and they called his name Ben-ja-min. 
And Ra-chel died. And it was hard for Ja-cob to 
have her die and leave him, for his love for her was 
great, and she was a good wife to him. 



CHAPTER VI. 

JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN. 

Ja-cob had twelve sons, and he was more fond of 
Jo-seph than of all the rest; for he was the child of 
his old age. And he gave him a fine coat, and made 
a great pet of him. This did not please the rest of 
the sons, and they showed their hate of Jo-seph in 
all sorts of ways. 

One night Jo-seph had a strange dream, and he 
told it to Le-vi, Sim-e-on, and the rest, and it made 
them hate him all the more. 

He said. As we bound sheaves in the field, lo, 
my sheaf rose and stood up straight. And your 
sheaves stood round, and bowed to my sheaf. 

And those who heard him said, Shalt thou in- 
deed reign o'er us? And his words and his deeds 
filled them with a fierce hate. 

And it was not long ere he told them of a fresh 



[oseph and his Brethren. 



dream he had had, in which he saw the sun and 
moon and e-lev-en stars bow down to him. And he 
told it to Ja-cob, 



-1 



e-iev-en 



and his 
sons. 

And Ja-cob 
took him to task, 
and said to him, 
What does this 
dream mean ? Are ^, . 
all of us to bow 
down to the earth 





to th 



ee? And he 




made up his mind 
to watch these 
signs, which might 
be sent of God. 

Now J a-cob 
had large flocks 
of sheep and goats 
at Shech-em, and 
all of his sons but 
Jo-seph had gone 
there to feed them. 
And Ja-cob said to Jo-seph, Go and see if it be well 
with thy brethren, and with the flocks, and bring me 
back word. 

Y. F. B.— 6 



JO-SEPH S DREAM. 



82 



History of the Old Testament, 



And Jo-seph went out from the vale of Heb-ron 
to the land of Shech-em. 

When he came there he found that his broth-ers 
had gone on to Do-than. And Ja-cob went to Do- 
than and found them. And as soon as he came in 



•i^ts^^ 




SHECH-EM, THE FIRST CAP-I-TAL OF THE KING-DOM OF IS-RAEL. 

sight they thought of a way in which they might get 
rid of him. 

Come, let us kill him, they said; and throw him 
in-to a pit, and say that a wild beast ate him up. 
Then we shall see what will be-come of his dreams. 

But Reu-ben heard it, and saved him out of their 
hands. And he said, Let us not kill the lad. Shed 
no blood ; but cast him in-to this pit, and lay no hand 



Joseph and his Brethren. 



83 



on him. For he meant to take him out of the pit, 
and bear him home to his fath-er. 

But when Jo-seph came near these men who 
should have been kind 
to him, they took off his 
coat and threw him in-to 
the pit, which was dry, 
or he would have 
drowned. These old 
dry wells were left as 
traps in which to catch 
the wild beasts that 
prowled round in the 
dead of light, and well 
these bad men knew 
what would be Jo-seph's 
fate. 

As they sat down to 
eat, they looked up and 
saw a lot of men and 
cam-els on their way to 
E-gypt, with spices, and 
balm and myrrh. 

And Ju-dah — one of Ja-cobs sons — said, Let us 
not kill the lad, for he is of our own flesh, but let us 
sell him to these men. And the rest thought it was 
a good scheme. So they drew Jo-seph up out of the 




JO-SEPH SOLD BY HIS BROTH-ERS. 



84 History of the Old Tcsiameftt. 

pit and sold him for a small sum, and those who 
bought the lad took him down with them to E-gypt. 

And the bad men took Jo-seph's coat and dipped 
it in the blood of a kid they had slain. And they 
brought it to Ja-cob, and said, This have we found. 
Is it thy son's coat? 

And Ja-cob knew it at once, and said. It is my 
son's coat. Jo-seph has no doubt been the prey of 
oome wild beast. And his grief was great. 

The men who bought Jo-seph brought him down 
to E-gypt and sold him to Pot-i-phar for a slave. 

And the Lord was with Jo-seph, who served Pot- 
i-phar so well, that the rich man put him in charge of 
his home and lands. But Pot-i-phar's wife told false 
tales, and Jo-seph, who had done no wrong, was thrust 
in-to jail. Pha-ra-oh was then king of E-gypt. And 
it came to pass that he fell out with his but-ler and 
chief cook, and had them shut up in the same place 
where Jo-seph was bound. 

And the man on guard put them in charge of Jo- 
seph, who went in and out of the ward as he chose. 
And one morn when he came in to them he saw they 
were sad, and asked them why it was. 

And they said. We have dreamed dreams, and 
there is no one to tell us what they mean. 

And Jo-seph said. Tell me them, I pray you. 

And the chief but-ler told his dream to Jo-seph 



Joseph and his Brethren. 



85 



first. And he said. In my dream I saw a vine, that put 
forth three branch-es and brought forth ripe grapes. 

And Jo-seph said to him, In three days shall 
Pha-ra-oh lift 
up thine head, 
and put thee 
back in thy 
place, and thou 
shalt serve him 
as of old. But 
think of me 
when it shall 
be well with 
thee ; speak of 
me to the king, 
and bring me 
out of this house. 

And the 
but-ler said that 
he would. 

Then the 
chief cook told 
his dream; and 
he said. In my dream I had three white bas-kets on 
my head. And in the top one were all sorts of bake 
meats for the king. And the birds did eat out of 
the bas-ket that I bore on my head. 




Joseph's coat. 



^^ History of the Old Testament. 

And Jo-seph said to him, In three days shall 
Pha-ra-oh lift up thy head and hang thee on a tree ; 
and the birds shall eat the flesh from thy bones. 

The third day was the king's birth-day, and he 
made a great feast. And he put the chief but-ler 
back in his place, and hung the chief cook ; just as 
Jo-seph had said he would do. But the chief but-ler 
gave not a thought to Jo-seph, nor spoke one good 
word for him to the king, as he had said he would. 

Two years from this time the king had a dream, 
from which he woke, and then fell asleep and dreamt 
the self-same dream. This was such a strange thing 
that it made the king feel ill at ease. And he sent 
for all the wise men in the land to tell him what these 
dreams meant. 

Then the chief but-ler spoke to the king, and said 
that when he and the cook were in jail, there was a 
young man there, a Jew, whom the chief of the guard 
made much use of And we told him our dreams, 
and he told us what they meant. And it came out 
just as he said. 

Then the king sent at once for Jo-seph, and said 
to him: In my dream I stood on the bank of the 
Nile. And there came up out of the riv-er seven fat 
cows, and they fed in a field near by. Then sev-en 
lean cows came up that were naught but skin and 
bone. And the lean cows ate up the fat cows. And 



J^oseph and his Brethren. 



87 



yet no one would have known it, for they were just 
as lean as when I first saw them. Then I woke, 
but soon fell a-sleep once more. 

Then I dreamt, and in my dream I saw sev-en 
ears of corn come up on one stalk, full and good. 
And lo, sev-en ears 
that were thin and 
dried up with the east 
wind sprang up af-ter 
them. And the poor 
ears ate up the good 
ones. 

Jo-seph said, For 
sev-en years there will 
be no lack of food in 
the land, and all will 
go well ; and then there 
will come a time of 
great want, and rich 
and poor will be in 
need of food, and not 
a few will starve to 
death. Let the king choose a wise man to see that 
corn is laid up in the land when the good years 
bring the rich growth, so that there will be no lack 
of food in the years when the crops are small. 

And the king said to Jo-seph, Since God hath 




PHA-RA-OH S DREAM. 



88 History of the Old Testament. 

showed thee all this there is none so wise as thou 
art. So he put him in charge of all the land of 
E-gypt, and he was to rank next to the king. And 
the king took a ring from his own hand and put it 
on Jo-seph's hand, and when he rode out, men bowed 
the knee, and his word was law in all the land. 
And Jo-seph took a wife, and he who was brought 
to E-gypt a slave, was now a rich man. 

And there came years when the grain grew rank 
in the fields, and the crops were large. And Jo-seph 
saw that a large part of it was laid up, and that there 
was no waste of the good food. For the end of those 
rich years came and then there was a time of dearth 
in all the lands, when the earth would not yield, and 
men and beasts were in want of food. 

But there was no lack of corn in E-gypt. And 
Jo-seph sold the corn that he had stored in the 
barns, and crowds came in to buy it. 

When Ja-cobheard that corn could be bought in 
E-gypt, he told his sons to go down and buy some, 
that they might not starve to death. 

And ten of them went down to buy corn in 
E-gypt. But Ja-cob kept Ben-ja-min at home, 
for fear he would be lost to him as Jo-seph was 
lost. 

When Ja-cob's ten sons came to the place where 
Jo-seph was, they bowed down to the ground. And 



*^V"'x 



^V 







]0-SEPH AND HIS BROTH-ERS. 



(8y) 



90 History of the Old Testament. 

Jo-seph knew them at once, but they did not know 
him, or give a thought to his dreams. 

And Jo-seph spoke in a rough voice, and said. 
Whence come ye? 

And they said. From the land of Ca-naan to buy 
food. 

And he said, Ye are spies, and have come to see 
how poor the land is. 

And they said to him, Nay, my lord, but to buy 
food are we come. We are all one man's sons ; and 
we are true men, and not spies. 

But Jo-seph would have it that they were 
spies. 

And they said. There were twelve of us, sons of 
one man. Young Ben-ja-min is at home with his 
fa-ther, and one is dead. 

And Jo-seph said. Go prove that ye are not spies; 
let one of the ten that are here go and fetch the young 
lad, Ben-ja-min. And he put them in jail for three 
days. And he said, Let one of you be bound, and 
kept in the guard-house, while the rest of you take 
back the corn that you need. And they said that 
they would do this. 

Then he took Sim-e-on from their midst, and had 
him bound, and put in the guard-house. 

And he sent word to his men to fill their sacks 
with corn, and to put back the price in each sack, and 



Joseph and his Brethren. 



91 



to give them food to eat on the way. And thus did 
Jo-seph do good to those who did ill to him. 

When Ja-cob's nine sons went home they told all 
that had been 
said and done 
to them, and 
that the lord of 
the land bade 
them bring 
B e n - j a - m i n 
down to E-gypt 
or he would 
think they were 
spies, and their 
lives would not 
be safe. 

Ja-cobsaid, 
My son shall 
not go down 
with you, for 
his broth-er is 
dead, and he is 
all I have left. 
If harm should come to him on the way, I should 
die of grief. 

When the corn they had brought from E-gypt 
was all gone, Ja-cob told his sons to go down and 




THE MEET-ING OF JO SEPH AND BEN-JA-MIN. 



92 History of the Old Testament. 

buy more. And Ju-dah spoke up and said, The 
man swore we should not see his face if Ben-ja-min 
was not with us. If thou wilt send him with us we 
will go; but if thou wilt not send him we will not 
go down. 

Then Ja-cob said, If it must be so, take Ben-ja- 
min with you, and may God give you grace with this 
man that he may send my two boys back to me. 

So the men took Ben-ja-min and went down to 
E-gypt, and stood face to face with Jo-seph. 

And they gave Jo-seph the gifts they had brought, 
and bowed down to the earth. And he asked how 
they all were, and if their fath-er was well ; and when 
he saw Ben-ja-min he said, Is this the young broth-er 
of whom you spoke? And he said to the lad, God 
be good to thee, my son. 

And Jo-seph's heart was so full at sight of the 
boy, and he longed so to throw his arms round him, 
that he had to make haste and leave the room that 
his tears might not be seen. 

Then he came back and had the feast set out, 
and all did eat and drink, and were glad at heart. 
And when the time came for his guests to leave, Jo- 
seph told his head man to fill their sacks with corn, 
to put their gold back in the mouth of the sacks, and 
to put in the young lad's sack the cup from which 
Jo-seph drank at each meal. 



Joseph and his Brethren. 



93 



This was done, and when they had gone out of 
the town Jo-seph bade his man go and say to them: 
My lord's cup is lost, and you must know who stole it. 

And when the man came up with Ja-cob's sons, he 
said just what 
Jo-seph told him 
to say. And 
they were all in 
a rage, and said: 
Why does my 
lord say such 
things of us? If 
the cup is found 
on one of us, 
kill him; and 
make the rest 
of us slaves. 

And each 
one of them cast 
his sack on the 



ground, and 

loosed it at the 

top. And the cup was found in Ben-ja-min's sack. 

Then they rent their clothes, and in great grief went 

back to Jo-seph's house and found him there. And 

they fell down at his feet. 

And Ju-dah said, God has found out our sins. 




JA-COB BLESS-ES JO-SEPH's CHIL-DREN. 



94 History of the Old Testament. 

Let us be your slaves ; and take him as well in whose 
sack the cup was found. 

Jo-seph said, No; but the man in whose sack the 
cup was found shall stay and serve me, and the rest 
shall go in peace. 

Then Ju-dah, who had sworn that he would bring 
back the boy, said to Jo-seph: If we go home, and 
our fath-er sees the lad is not with us, he will die of 
grief. For his life is bound up in the lad's life. 

Jo-seph could not keep back his tears, and when 
he had sent all the men of E-gypt out of the room, 
he said to his broth-ers, Come near, I pray you. 

And they came near. And he said, I am Jo- 
seph, whom ye sold in-to E-gypt. But grieve not 
that ye did this thing, for God did send me here that 
I might save your lives. Go home and tell my fath- 
er that God hath made me lord of all Egypt, and bid 
him come down to me at once. And say that he 
shall dwell near me, in the land of Go-shen, and I 
will take care of him. 

Then he fell on Ben-ja-min's neck, and they wept; 
and he kissed his broth-ers and shed tears, but they 
were tears of joy. 

Ja-cob took all that he had and went down to 
E-gypt. And three-score and ten souls went with 
him. And they dwelt in the land of Go-shen, and 
Ja-cob died there. 



Through the Red Sea and the Wilderness, 95 

Jo-seph's breth-ren thought that he would hate 
them now that their fath-er was dead. And they 
fell down at his feet and wept and prayed that he 
would do them no harm 

Jo-seph bade them fear not, for he would take 
care of them and be kind to them. They had meant 
to do him an ill turn when he was a lad, but God 
had made it turn out for good, and it was all right. 
And Jo-seph lived to a good old age, and had two 
sons, whose names were E-phra-im and Ma-nas-seh. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THROUGH THE RED SEA AND THE WILDERNESS. 

By and by there rose up a new King in E-gypt 
who knew not Jo-seph. He was called Pha-ra-oh, as 
this was the name by which all the kings of E-gypt 
were known. And he said there were more He- 
brews, or Jews, in the land than there ought to be, 
and if war should break out, and these Jews should 
take sides with the foes of Pha-ra-oh and his race, 
they would be sure to win. So he set them hard 
tasks, and made them bear great loads, and did all he 
could to vex them, and still they grew in strength. 
God had said they were to be as the stars in the sky. 



96 History of the Old Testament. 

and as the sands of the sea, that no one could count. 
And the king of E-gypt tried to stop this thing. 

And he made it a law that if a boy child was 
born to the He-brews it should be put to death at 
once; but a girl child might live. And this was the 
cause of great grief to the poor bond slaves, who 
were forced to do the will of the great king. 

One day the prin-cess went down to bathe in the 
stream that ran near her house. And her maids 
went with her. And as she stood on the shore of the 
Nile, she caught sight of a small boat built like an 
ark, that was hid in the reeds, and sent her maids to 
fetch it out. 

When the prin-cess looked in the ark she saw the 
child. And the babe wept. And the prin-cess 
tried to soothe it, but the child cried the more, for her 
voice was a strange one. And she said. This is a 
He-brew child. 

And one of her maids spoke up, and said. Shall I 
get thee a He-brew nurse, that she may nurse the 
child for thee ? 

And the prin-cess said, Yes; go. 

And the maid brought her own and the babe's 
moth-er, to whom the prin-cess said, Take this child 
and nurse it for me, and I will pay thee for it. 

And the wo-man took the child and took care 
of it. 




Y. F. B.— 7 



THE FIND-ING OF MO-SES. 



(97) 



98 History of the Old Testament. 

And the child grew, and was brought down to 
Pha-ra-oh's house, and the prin-cess made him her 
son, and gave him the name of Mo-ses: which 
means "Drawn out." 

One day, when Mo-ses had grown to be a man, 
he went out to look at those of his own race, and to 
watch them at their tasks. And while he stood 
there a man from E-gypt struck one of the Jews; 
and when Mo-ses looked to the right and to the left 
and saw that no one was near, he slew the one from 
E-gypt and hid him in the sand. 

And the next day, when he went out, he saw 
there was a fight be-tween two He-brews. And he 
said to the one who was in the wrong, Why did you 
strike that man ? 

And he said. Who made thee our judge? Dost 
thou want to kill me, as thou didst the one from 
E-gypt? 

And Mo-ses was scared, for he thought no one 
knew of this deed. 

As soon as it came to the ears of the king, he 
sought to slay Mo-ses. But Mo-ses fled from him, 
and dwelt in the land of Mid-i-an, and found a wife 
there, and took care of the flocks of Jeth-ro, his 
wife's fath-er. 

One day as he led his flock out in search of food 
he came to Mount Ho-reb, and there he saw a flame 



Through the Red Sea and the Wilderness. 



lOI 



of fire stream out of a bush, and the bush was not 
burnt in the least. 

As he drew near the bush the Lord spoke to him 
out of the flame, and Mo- 
ses hid his face, for he 
dared not look on God. 

The Lord said. The 
cry of the chil-dren of Is- 
ra-el has come up to me, 
and I have seen how ill 
they have been used. 
And I will send thee to 
Pha-ra-oh that thou mayst 
bring them forth out of 
the land of E-gypt. 

But Mo-ses was loth 
to go. 

And the Lord said, 
What is that in thine 
hand? And Moses said, 
A rod, And the Lord 
said. Cast it on the 
ground. And he cast it 
on the ground, and it was changed to a snake, and 
Mo-ses fled from it. Then the Lord said to Mo-ses, 
Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And 
Mo-ses did so, and it was a rod in his hand. And 




MO-SES BROUGHT BE-FORE PHA-RA-OH's DAUGH-TER. 



102 History of the Old Testament. 

the Lord said, Put now thy hand in on thy breast. 
And he put it in, and when he drew it out it was 
white, and Hke a dead hand. And he put his hand 
in once more, and drew it out, and it wa^. like the 
rest of his flesh. 

Then Mo-ses said, O, my Lord, I am not fit to do 
this work, for I am slow of speech, and a man of few 
ivords. 

And the Lord said to him, I will be with thee, 
and teach thee what thou wilt say. 

Still Mo-ses was loth to go, and the Lord was 
wroth with him, and said. Take Aa-ron with thee. 
He can speak well. And thou shalt tell him what 
to say and do, and I will teach you, and with this 
rod in thy hand thou shalt do great things, as if thou 
wert God. 

So Mo-ses took his wife and his sons and put 
them on an ass, and went back to E-gypt with the rod 
of God in his hand. 

And Mo-ses and Aa-ron went in to the king and 
begged him to let the He-brews go out of the land. 
And he would not, but laid more work on the men, 
and bade them make bricks with-out straw, and do 
all sorts of hard tasks. 

And the Lord sent plagues on the land, and the 
ponds dried up, and all the large streams were turned 
to blood, and the fish died, and the stench of them 



Through the Red Sea and the Wilderness. 



103 



made the air scarce fit to breathe. And there was 
no wa-ter they could drink. Then there came a 
plague of frogs, 
and they were 
so thick in the 
land that Pha- 
ra-oh said he 
would let the 
chil-dren of Is- 
ra-el go if Mo- 
ses would rid 
him of the frogs 
at the same 
time. 

But the 
king did not 
keep his word, 
forassoonas he 
found the frogs 
grew less, he 
said the He- 
brews should 
not go. 

Then the 

Lord smote the land with lice ; but still Pha-ra-oh's 
heart was hard. 

Then the Lord sent flies in such swarms that 




MOS-ES AT THE BURNING BUSH. 



104 History of the Old Testament. 

there was no place that was free from them, and they 
made the food not fit to eat. 

And the king told Mo-ses he would let the bond- 
slaves go to serve their God, but they were not to go 
far till the land was rid of flies. Then Mo-ses went 
forth and prayed to God, and the flies left the land. 
But still the king's heart was hard, and he would 
not let them go. 

Then the Lord sent worse plagues : the flocks 
and herds died; there were boils on man and beast; 
the crops did not come up, and rain, hail, and balls 
of fire came down from the sky. And still the heart 
of the king was as hard as stone. Then the Lord 
sent lo-custs, that ate up all the hail had left, and 
there was not a green leaf on the trees nor a blade of 
grass to be seen in the whole land. 

And the king bade Mo-ses to set him free from 
this plague. And the Lord sent a strong west wind, 
that blew the flies in-to the Red Sea. Yet Pha-ra-oh 
would not let the He-brews go. 

Then the Lord told Mo-ses to stretch out his 
hand, and there came up a thick cloud that made the 
land so dark that the folks staid in bed for three 
days. And Pha-ra-oh said to Mo-ses, Get thee out 
of my sight. For if I see thy face thou shalt die. 

And Mo-ses said, Thou hast well said: I will see 
thy face no more. 



Through the Red Sea and the Wilderness. 



105 



And the Lord sent one more plague on E-gypt: 
he smote the first-born of men and of beasts, and a 
great cry was heard through the land. And then 
Pha-ra-oh had to let 
the chil-dren of Is-ra-el 
go, for he could not 
keep up this strife with 
God. And Mo-ses led 
the He-brew chil-dren 
out of E-gypt, and the 
Lord sent a cloud by 
day and a fire by night 
to show them the 
way. 

And when they 
were in camp by the 
Red Sea, they looked 
up and saw Pha-ra-oh 
and his hosts, and were 
in great fear lest he 
should kill them. And 
they cried out to the 

-'-^ *J 1 U-, dllLl UldlllCLl MIR-IAM, THE SIS-TER OF MO-SES, AND THE WO-MEN 

Mo-ses that he had of is-ra^l sing-ing praises. 

brought them in-to such straits. 

As they came to the Red Sea, Mo-ses raised his 
rod and the sea rose like a wall on each side, and 




io6 History of the Old Testament. 

the chil-dren of Is-ra-el went on dry land through the 
midst of the sea. 

Then Pha-ra-oh and his hosts came close in the 
rear; and passed down be-tween the great sea-wall 
that rose at the right hand and at the left. And the 
waves that had stood still at a sign from God were 
let loose, and the king and his horse-men were swept 
out of sight. 

When the chil-dren of Is-ra-el came out of the 
Red Sea they were three days with naught to drink. 
And when they came to a stream, called Ma-rah, 
they found it bitter. And they said to Mo-ses, 
What shall we drink? 

And Mo-ses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord 
showed him a tree, and when he had cast a branch 
of it in the stream it was made sweet at once. And 
they came to E-lim, where were ten wells and three- 
score palm-trees, and there they made their camp. 

It was not long ere there was a great cry for 
bread. 

And Mo-ses plead with God, and when the sun 
went down that day quails flew in-to the camp, and 
they had all the meat they cared to eat. At dawn 
of the next day, as soon as the dew was off the ground, 
there came a rain of what was at first thought to be 
hail-stones. 

But Mo-ses said it was food that God had sent 




Iliiiiliilii^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 



io8 History of the Old Testament. 

them to eat, and they were to take all and no more 
than they would need for one day. For they were 
to trust in God that he would feed them each day. 
On the sixth day they were to take what would last 
them for two days, for no food fell on the day of rest. 

This new food was called man-na. 

As they went on they came to Reph-i-dim, but 
found no wa-ter to drink. And they found fault 
with Mo-ses. And Mo-ses cried out. Lord, what 
shall I do to these, who have a mind to stone me? 

At this time they were near Mount Ho-reb, where 
God spoke to Mo-ses out of a bush that was on fire, 
yet not burnt. 

And God told Mo-ses to take his rod in his hand 
and go on till he came to a rock. And this rock he 
was to strike with his rod, and wa-ter would flow out 
of it. And Mo-ses did as the Lord told him, and 
when he struck the rock the wa-ter ran out. 

In the third month from the time they left E-gypt, 
the chil-dren of Is-ra-el came near Mount Si-na-i, and 
went in-to camp. And Mo-ses went up to the top 
of the Mount, and the Lord spoke to him there. 

On the third day a thick cloud of smoke rose 
from Mount Si-na-i, and a loud noise that made 
those that heard it quake with fear. And Mo-ses 
led his flock out of the camp, and they came and 
stood at the foot of the mount. And they said to 



Through the Red Sea and the Wilderness. 1 1 r 

Mo-ses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but 
let not God speak with us lest we die. But Mo-ses 
told them that God had not come to make them die, 
but to make them fear to do aught that did not please 
him. 

And God gave to Mo-ses two blocks of stone on 
which were the Ten Laws that the chil-dren of Is-ra-el 
were to keep. 

Now while Mo-ses was in the mount, face to face 
with God, those whom he had brought out of E-gypt 
were in camp at the foot. And Mo-ses staid so 
long that they made up their minds he would not 
come back. So they said to Aa-ron, Make us a God 
that we can bow down to. And Aa-ron bade them 
throw all the gold they had into the fire. And they 
did so, and it took the form of a calf. And when 
God saw this he was not pleased, bui; bade Mo-ses 
make haste down the mount. 

When Mo-ses came down from the mount with 
the two flat stones in his hands, and drew near the 
camp, and saw what had been done, he was in a 
great rage. He cast the blocks of stone out of his 
hands and broke them at the foot of the mount. 

Then he took the calf which they had made, and 
burnt it in the fire till there was nought left of it but 
a fine dust. And Mo-ses begged God to blot out 
the sins of those whom he had led out of E-gypt. 



112 History of the Old Testament. 

And the Lord told Mo-ses to hew out two blocks of 
stone Hke to the first, and bring them up with him 
to the top of Mount Si-na-i. 

This Mo-ses did, and the Lord wrote on them 
the Ten Laws that all were to keep if they would 
reach the land they sought. 

They were more than two-score years on the road, 
and in that time they met with plagues, and there 
was strife in their midst, yet as they went there was 
the fire by night and the cloud by day to show that 
the Lord was with them. 

When they came to Mount Hor and were yet 
a long way from Ca-naan, Aa-ron died, and there 
was great grief at his loss. They were sick at heart 
and foot-sore, and spoke hard words of God and 
Mo-ses. There is no bread here for us, they said, 
and no wa-ter, and we loathe this man-na. And for 
this sin God sent snakes in-to their camp, and they 
bit the chil-dren of Is-ra-el sothat afewof them died. 
Then they plead with Mo-ses to rid them of the 
snakes, and make their peace with God. 

And Mo-ses prayed for them. And God told 
him to make a snake like to those which bit 
his flock, and set it up on a pole. And all those 
who would look at this brass snake should be made 
well. 

And Mo-ses did so. And this sign was meant 



Through the Red Sea and the Wilderness. 



113 



to show forth Christ, who was to heal men of their 
sins, and to be raised up on a cross. 
And Mo-ses 



led his flock till 
they came to 
the plains of 
Mo-ab. And 
Ba-lak, the king 
of that land, 
thought they 
had come to 
fight with him, 
and he sent a 
man named Ba- 
laam out to 
curse them and 
drive them back. 
HetoldBa-laam 
he would make 
him a rich man 
if he would do 
this thing, and 
as Ba-laam was 
fond of wealth 
he said he would do the the king's will. So he set 
forth on his ass, and had not gone far when he met 
an an-gel with a drawn sword in his hand. Ba-laam 

\ . ^\ B.— 8 




BA-LAAM AND THE ASS. 



1 1 4 History of the Old Testament. 

did not see him, but the ass did and turned out 
of the road. But the an-gel went on and stood in 
a place where there was a wall on each side. 

When the ass came to the place she went close 
to the wall and tried to get by. But she hurt Ba- 
laam's foot and he struck her and made her go on. 
And the an-gel went on and stood in a place where 
there was no room to turn to the right hand or the 
left. 

Then the ass shook with fright and fell down on 
the ground. And Ba-laam struck her with the staff 
that he had in his hand. 

And the Lord made the ass speak like a man, 
and say, What have I done to thee that thou hast 
struck me these three times? 

Ba-laam said, To make thee move on : I would 
there were a sword in my hand, for I would kill thee. 

Then the ass said, Am I not thine ? and have 
I been wont to do so to thee? And Ba-laam said, 
No. Then the Lord made Ba-laam see the an-gel 
that stood in the way with a drawn sword in his hand, 
and Ba-laam bowed his face to the ground. 

Then the an-gel said. Why hast thou struck thine 
ass these three times? Lo, I came out to stop thee, 
and to turn thee from the way of sin. And the ass 
saw me, and turned from the path, and if she had 
not done so I would have slain thee. 



Through the Red Sea and the Wilderness. 



115 



Then he said to Ba-laam, Go with the men the 
king has sent, but say on-ly what I shall tell thee. 

So Ba-laam went with the men, and when Ba-lak 
heard that he 
was come he 
went out to meet 
him. The next 
day Ba-lak took 
Ba-laam to a 
high place, from 
whence he could 
look down on the 
camp of Is-ra-el, 
and curse them. 

But the Lord 
would not let 
him curse them, 
but made him 
speak good 
things of them. 
This was done 
on three high 
mounts, and at 

■1 , . 1 1 • MO-SES ON MOUNT NE-BO. 

last the kmg was 

wroth, and said to Ba-laam, I sent for thee to curse my 
foes, and lo, these three times hast thou blest them. 
And Ba-lak bade him make haste and go back 




ii6 History of the Old Testament. 

to his own home. And Ba-laam went off as poor as 
he came, for Ba-lak gave him none of his gold. 

The Lord brought Mo-ses and his flock to the 
banks of the Jor-dan, which they would have to cross 
to reach the land of Ca-naan. And while they were 
there, Mo-ses went up to the top of Mount Ne-bo to 
talk with God. And God told him how large the 
land was that he would give to the chil-dren of Is- 
ra-el. And he said that Mo-ses should look on it, 
but should not step foot in the land. And Mo-ses 
died on Mount Ne-bo, and though an old man, was 
well and strong till the Lord took him. And no 
one knows in what part of the earth his grave was 
made. 



CHAPTER VIIL 

HOVv^ JOSHUA AND JEPHTHAH FOUGHT FOR THE LORD. 

When Mo-ses died, Josh-u-a took charge of the 
chil-dren of Is-ra-el, and sought to do God's will, as 
Mo-ses had done. And Josh-u-a sent word through 
the camp that in three days they would cross the 
Jor-dan. And when they set foot in the stream the 
waves stood back as they did in the Red Sea, and 
they went through Jor-dan on dry ground. And as 



How Joshua and Jepkthah Fought for the Lord. 



117 



they came up out of the stream the waves closed up 
and there was no path-way through them. 

The chil-dren of Is-ra-el made their camp at a 
place called Gil-gal ; 
and as there was no 
lack of food in this 
good land, the Lord 
ceased to ram down 
man-na for them to 
eat. 

The next day 
Josh-u-a left the 
camp and came near 
to the walls of Jer-i- 
cho. There he met 
a man with a drawn 
sword in his hand. 
And Josh-u-a said, 
Art thou for us or 
for our foes ? 

And the man 
said. As prince of 
the Lord's host am 
I^ now come. And at these words Josh-u-a fell on 
his face to the earth ; for he knew it was the Lord 
that spoke to him. 

The Lord told Josh-u-a to have no fear of the 




PASS-ING THROUGH THE JOR-UAN. 



Ii8 History of the Old Testament. 

king of Jer-i-cho, for the chil-dren of Is-ra-el should 
take the town. All their men of war were to march 
round the town once each day for six days. Some 
of the priests were to bear the ark, which held the 
things they made use of when they went in to talk 
with God, and some were to blow on rams' horns. 

And the next day — when the six days were at an 
end — they were to march round the town sev-en 
times, and the priests were to blow their horns. And 
when the men of Is-ra-el heard a long loud blast they 
were all to give a great shout and the wall would fall 
flat to the ground, and they could march in and take 
the town. 

Josh-u-a bade his men do all the Lord had said; 
and told them to make no noise with their voice as 
they went their rounds till he bade them shout. 
And when the priests blew their horns for the last 
time, Josh-u-a cried. Shout! for the Lord is with us! 
and there was a great shout and the wall fell, and 
they took the town ; and the fame of Josh-u-a spread 
through all the lands. 

Josh-u-a fought with more than a score of kings 
and won their lands from them ; but yet there was 
much land in Ca-naan for which the chil-dren of Is- 
ra-el would have to fight. 

But as the years went on, Josh-u-a grew so old 
that he could not lead his men to war as he used to 



How Joshua and Jephthah Fought for the Lord. 



119 



do. And he called his flock to him and told them 
how good the Lord had been to them. And he bade 
them love the Lord and serve him, and put from 




JER-I-CHO CON-qtTERKD AND DE-STROYED. 



them all strange gods. He said, Choose ye this day 
whom ye will serve ; but as for me and my house we 
will serve the Lord. 

And the men said, The Lord hath done great 



I20 History of the Old Testament, 

things for us, and him will we serve, for he is 
our God. 

And Josh-u-a took a great stone and set it up 
neath an oak tree that stood near where the ark was 
kept at Shi-loh. And this stone, he said, was to be 
a sign of the vow they had made there to serve the 
Lord. And when the talk was at an end, the men 
went to their own homes 

And ere long Josh-u-a died. And they laid him 
in the part of the land that God gave him as his own, 
on the north side of the hill of Ga-ash. 

Then the chil-dren of Is-ra-el went to war with 
the tribes that were in the land of Ca-naan, as Josh- 
u-a had told them to do. But they did not drive 
them all out, as they should have done, but made 
friends with those that were left, and were led in-to 
sin, and were made to serve as bond-slaves. And 
when they were sick of their sins, and sought the 
help of the Lord, he sent men to rule them, and to 
lead them out to war and set them free from these 
friends who proved to be the worst kind of foes. 

Now there was a man in Is-ra-el whose name was 
Jeph-thah. He was a brave man, and had done 
great deeds, but the chil-dren of Is-ra-el were not 
kind to him, so he fled from their land, and went to 
live in the land of Tob. But when the Jews had 
need of a man to lead them out to war, they thought 



How Joshua and Jephthah Fought for the Lord. 



121 



of Jeph-thah. And they said, Come, and be at the 
head of us when we go out to fight the Am-mon-ites, 

And Jeph-thah said, If I go with you, and win 
the fight, will you make 
me judge in Is-ra-el? 

And they said they 
would. 

Now ere the fight 
took place, Jeph-thah 
made a vow that if the 
Lord would let him 
win he would give to 
God — that is, would 
slay and burn as if it 
were a lamb — the first 
who came out of his 
doors to meet him 
when he went back to 
his home. 

Jeph-thah should 
not have made this rash 
vow, and need not have 
kept it if he had asked 
God to for-give the sin. 

He went out to fight the Am-mon-ites, and by 
the help of the Lord the chil-dren of Is-ra-el were 
set free from them. 




JKPH-THAU AND HIS DAUGH-TEk 



122 History of the Old Testament. 

When the fight was at an end Jeph thah went 
back to his home, and the first to come out to meet 
him was his own child, a fair young maid, whose 
face was bright with joy. She was all the child that 
Jeph-thah had, and when he saw her he rent his 
clothes and told her of the vow he had made. 

And she said. My fath-er, if thou hast made a 
vow to the Lord, do with me as thou hast said. 
And he took his child and did to her as he had said 
he would, and all the young girls in Is-ra-el wept 
for her. 

Jeph-thah was a judge for six years, and then 
he died. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SAMSON : THE STRONG MAN. 

The Jews kept on in their sins, and took no 
pains to please the Lord, and so fell in-to the hands 
of the Phil-is-tines. 

And there was at that time a man in Is-ra-el 
whose name was Ma-no-ah. Both he and his wife 
served the Lord ; and they had no child. And God 
sent one of his an-gels to the wife of Ma-no-ah to tell 



Samson: the Strong Man. 125 

her that she should have a son who was to be brought 
up to serve the Lord, and to do his work. 

Ere long Ma-no-ah and his wife had a son, to 
whom they gave the name of Sam-son. 

And the child grew, and the Lord blest him. 
And when he was grown up he went to Tin-muth, 
where he met a Phil-is-tine wo-man and fell in love 
with her. 

Then his pa-rents plead with him to find a wife 
in Is-ra-el, and not to take this one who was no friend 
to his race. But Sam-son would not give her up. 

So they went with him to Tin-muth. And on 
the way a li-on ran out and roared at him. And 
Sam-son put his arms round the beast and tore him 
with his hands as if he had been a young kid. But 
he did not tell his fath-er and moth-er what he had 
done. 

The time soon came when Sam-son was to set 
the Jews free from the Phil-is-tines. And he went 
down to one of their towns and slew a few of their 
men, and then went back to his own home, while his 
wife stayed in Tin-muth. 

When it was time to bring the wheat in from the 
field, Sam-son went down to see his wife, and took 
with him a young kid. But when he came to the 
house her fath-er would not let him go in, and told 
him that she was his wife no more, but had gone to 



126 History of the Old Testament. 

live with some one else. Then Sam-son was in a 
great rage, and he went and caught more than ten 
score fox-es, and set bits of wood on fire, and tied 
these fire-brands to their tails, and let them loose in 
the fields and vine-yards of the Phil-is-tines. 

And they set fire to the grain, and burnt it all up. 

And the grape-vines and fruit trees were burnt, 
and much harm was done. 

When the Phil-is-tines found out that it wah> 
Sam-son who had done this they took his wife and 
her fath-er and burnt them to death. And Sam-son 
fought and slew a host of the Phil-is-tines, and then 
went on the top of a high rock called E-tam to stay 
there. 

Then a crowd of men went up with a rush to the 
top of the rock, and they said to Sam-son, We have 
come to bind thee, that we may give thee into the 
hands of the Phil-is-tines. 

Sam-son made them swear that they would not 
put him to death, and they bound him with strong 
cords and brought him down from the rock. 

As they drew near the camp of the Phil-is-tines 
a great shout went up from the men there. And 
the Lord gave Sam-son such strength that he broke 
the cords from his arms as if they had been burnt 
threads. 

And Sam-son took up the jaw-bone of an ass. 



Samsoii : the Strong Man. 



127 



and with it he fought the Phil-ls-tines and slew a host 
of them. 

Then a great thirst came on him, and there was 
no well near from which he could drink. And he 
grew so weak that 
he cried out to the 
Lord not to let him 
die of thirst or fall 
into the hands of 
his foes. 

And the Lord 
made a spring at 
that place and wa- 
ter ran out, and 
when Sam-son had 
drunk, his strength 
came back to him. 

Sam-son came 
to the town of Ga- 
za, and went in a 
house there. Now 
the Phil-is-tines 
dwelt in Ga-za, 
and when they heard that Sam-son was there they 
shut the gates of the town, and kept watch near them 
all night. They said when the day dawns we will 
kill him. 




SAM-SON SLAY-ING THE PHIL-IS-TINES. 



128 History of the Old Testament. 

But in the dead of the night Sam-son rose up 
and came to the gates of the town, and when he found 
them shut he took them up — posts, bar and all — and 
bore them a long way off to the top of a hill. 

Sam-son's hair had not been cut, and it had grown 
thick and long. And there was a wo-man named 
De-li-lah whom Sam-son used to go and see. And 
when the Phil-is-tines heard of it they came to her 
and told her if she would find out how they might 
bind Sam-son and bear him off, they would give her 
a large sum of gold. 

So when Sam-son came to De-li-lah's house she 
said to him. Tell me, I pray thee what makes thee 
so strong, and with what thou couldst be bound and 
not break loose? 

Sam-son said if they bound him with seven green 
withes — that is, cords made out of soft twigs — he 
would be so weak that he could not break them. 

When De-li-lah told this to the Phil-is-tines they 
brought her seven green withes, and Sam-son let her 
bind him with them. Now she had men hid in her 
house who were to take Sam-son if he could not 
break the twigs. And when she had bound him 
she cried out. The Phil-is-tines seize thee, Sam-son ! 
And as soon as she had said these words he broke 
the green withes as if they were burnt threads. 

Then De-li-lah knew that Sam-son made fun of 



Samson: the Strong Man, 



129 



her and told her Hes, and she said once more, Tell 
me, I pray thee, with what thou canst be bound and 
not break loose. 

Sam-son told her if he were bound with new 




SAM-SON S DOWN-FALL. 



ropes, which had not been used, that his strength 
would leave him, and he would be too weak to break 
them. 

So she took new ropes and bound him. But ere 
the men who were hid in the room could spring out 

Y. F. B.— 9 



130 History of the Old Testament. 

and take him, Sam-son broke the ropes from his 
arms as if they had been threads. 

Then De-h-lah told Sam-son that he did but 
mock her and tell her lies, and she begged him to let 
her know how he might be bound. 

And he said if she would weave his hair with the 
web in the loom his strength would go from him. 
And she wove his long hair in with the web, and 
made it fast with a large peg that was part of 
the loom. 

Then she cried out, and Sam-son rose up and 
went off with the great peg, and the whole of the 
web that was in the loom. 

Then she said he did not love her or he would 
not make sport of her in this way. And she teased 
him each day, and gave him no peace, so that at last 
he had to tell her the truth. 

He said his hair had not been cut since he was 
born, and if it were shaved off he would lose all his 
strength. 

It was wrong for Sam-son to tell her this, for she 
was bad at heart and not a true friend. But he did 
not know then how great was his sin. 

De-li-lah knew that this time Sam-son had told 
her the truth ; so she sent for the Phil-is-tines to come 
up to her house. 

Then while Sam-son slept, she had a man come 



Samson: the Strong Man, 



131 



in and shave all the hair from his head. And when 
this was done she cried out, The Phil-is-tines seize 
thee, Sam-son. 

And he 
woke from his 
sleep, and 
knew not his 
strength had 
gone from him. 

Then the 
Phil-is-tines 
took him and 
put out his 
eyes, brought 
him down to 
Ga-za, and 
bound him 
with chains of 
brass. And 
they made him 
fast to a mill- 
stone, and he 
had to work 
hard to grind 
their corn. 

While he was shut up in jail Sam-son had time 
to think of his sins, and he no doubt cried out to the 




SAM-SON ANU DE-LI-LAH. 



1 32 History of the Old Testament. 

Lord to keep him. For his hair grew out and his 
strength came back. But the Phil-is-tines did not 
know this. 

They had made their own god, and its name was 
Da-gon. And they thought that Da-gon gave Sam- 
son in-to their hands, and loud was their praise of 
him. And all the Phil-is-tines met in the large house 
that had been built for Da-gon that they might bow 
down to their god and give him thanks. 

The crowd was great, and their hearts were full 
of joy. And they said, Send for Sam-son that he 
may make sport for us. And poor blind Sam-son 
was brought in, and sat down in their midst. And 
those in the house and those on the roof made sport 
of him in all sorts of ways. 

And Sam-son put his arms round two of the 
great posts that held up the house. And he bent 
down, and the house fell, and most of the Phil-is- 
tines were killed. Sam-son died with them, and by 
his death slew more of the foes of Is-ra-el than he had 
slain in all his life. 



CHAPTER X. 

RUTH. 

While Is-ra-el was ruled by a judge whose name 
has not come down to us, a dearth came on the land 
of Ca-naan. And one of the Jews who dwelt in 
Beth-le-hem, took his wife and his two sons and 
went to stay for a while in the land of Mo-ab. His 
wife's name was Na-o-mi. The man died while 
they were in Mo-ab, and in a few years each of the 
sons took him a wife. And their names were Or-pah 
and Ruth. At the end of ten years the sons died, 
and Na-o-mi and their wives dwelt in the land of 
Mo-ab. 

When Na-o-mi heard there was no lack of food 
in Is-ra-el, she made up her mind to go back to 
Beth-le-hem to live. 

She told Or-pah and Ruth of her plan, and said 
if they choose to stay in the land of Mo-ab, where they 
were born, they might do so. 

And they kissed her and wept and said they 
would go with her. But she bade them stay where 

they were, and at last Or-pah, with tears in her eyes, 

(134) 



Ruth. 



135 



kissed Na-o-mi good-bye and went back to her own 
home. But Ruth would not leave her. She told 
Na-o-mi not to 



urge her to go, 
for nought but 
death should 
part them. 

So they went 
to the town of 
Beth-le-hem 
where Na-o-mi 
used to live. 

It was the 
days when the 
grain was ripe 
in the fields, and 
the men had 
gone out to cut 
it down. 

And Na-o- 
mi had a kins- 
man in Beth-le- 
hem, whose 
name was Bo-az, 

and he was a rich and great man. And Ruth said 
to Na-o-mi, Let me now go to the fields and glean 
the ears of corn. 




ROTH AND NA-O-MI. 



136 



History of the Old Testament. 



To glean is to pick up. And poor folks, who 

had no fields of their own, went to pick up that which 

was left on the ground for thern. 

And Na-o-mitold 
Ruth to go. And 
she wentout and came 
to the field that was 
owned by the rich 
man, Bo-az. 

When Bo-az saw 
Ruth he asked the 
men who she was, and 
where she came from. 
And one of them said, 
She came with Na-o- 
mi from the land of 
Mo-ab. And she 
said to us, I pray you 
let me glean where 
the field has been 
reaped. And we 
told her she might, 
and she has been 

there for some hours. Then Bo-az went to Ruth. 
So she went out each day to his field, and gleaned 

there till the grain was all cut and in the barns. 
Na-o-mi said to Ruth, Bo-az will win-now the 




RUTH. 



Ruth, 



137 



bar-ley to-night. To win-now is to fan, or to drive 

off by means of a wind. The grain was first threshed, 

then thrown 

from the hands 

up in the air. 

The wind 

would blow off 

the chaiT and 

the good grain 

would fall to 

the ground. 

N a-o-m i 
told Ruth to go 
in and speak 
to Bo-az the 
things she told 
her. So Ruth 
did as Na-o-mi 
said, and went 
down to the 
fields where 
Bo-az and his 
men were. 

When she 

came back to Na-o-mi she told her all that she had 
said and done. 

The next day Bo-az went down to the gate of 




BO-AZ AND RUTH. 



1 3 8 History of the Old Testament. 

Beth-le-hem, and told all the chief men whom he 
met there that he meant to make Ruth his wife. 
And the men said they would make it known, and 
prayed the Lord would bless Ruth and add to the 
fame and wealth of the rich and great Bo-az. 

So Bo-az took Ruth for his wife. And they had 
a son O-bed. And Na-o-mi was its nurse. 



CHAPTER XL 

JOB. 

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name 
was Job. He was a good man and tried to do all 
that was right in the sight of the Lord. And God 
gave him ten chil-dren : sev-en boys and three girls. 
He gave Job great wealth, too, so that there was no 
man in all that part of the world as rich as he was. 

When Job's sons were grown up and had homes 
of their own, they used to make feasts in turn, and 
send for their three sis-ters to come and eat and drink 
with them. And Job kept them in mind of all they 
owed to God, and urged them to lead good and true 
lives, and to do no wrong. 

When Job had lived at his ease and been a rich 
man for a long term of years, a great change took 



Job, 139 

place. He lost all his wealth, and all his chil-dren; 
for it was God's will to try him and see how he 
would bear these ills. 

One day one of his men came to him in great 
haste, and said, While we were in the field with the 
ploughs, a band of thieves came and drove off the ox- 
en and ass-es and slew thy men who were with them, 
and I a-lone am left to tell thee. 

While this man spoke, there came up one who 
said, A great fire has come down from the sky and 
burnt up thy sheep, and all those who took care of 
them, and I a-lone am left to tell thee. 

While he yet spoke, a third man came and said, 
Thy foes came and took all thy cam-els, and slew 
the men who had charge of them, and I a-lone am 
left to tell thee. 

Then a fourth came, and said. Thy chil-dren 
were at a feast in the house of thy first-born son, 
when there came a great wind that broke down the 
house, and it fell on the young men and they are 
all dead, and I a-lone am left to tell thee. 

When Job heard these things he tore his clothes, 
and bowed down to the earth, as if at the feet of God. 
And he said, I had nought when I came in-to the 
world, and I shall have nought when I die and go 
out of it. God gave me all that I had, and God 
took it from me. He knows what is best for me 



140 History of the Old Testament. 

and I thank him for all that he has done. So Job 
did not sin, nor speak ill of God, though his grief 
was so great and had come uo-on him in such a 
strange, swift way. 

To try Job still more, God let him get sick and 
he was in great pain. Boils came on him and from 
head to foot he was a mass of sores. 

Then his wife came to Job and said. Dost thou 
still trust God? Do so no more, but curse him, 
though he kill thee for it. 

Job said. Thou dost not speak wise words. 
When we have so much good from God, shall we 
not be con-tent to take our share of the ills he may 
send ? I n all this Job said not a word that was wrong. 

Now Job had three friends, who, when they 
heard of his hard lot, came to talk with him and cheer 
him. But when they saw him, the change was so 
great they did not know him. 

Then they rent their clothes and wept, and sat 
down on the ground near him, but did not speak for 
some time, for they could see that his grief was great. 
These friends thought that Job must have done some 
great sin, else these ills would not have been sent 
upon him. When they spoke to him they said, If 
thou hast done wrong, do so no more, and God will 
free thee from thy pains. 

Now Job knew that he had done no wrong. 




JOB, AJvD HIS FRIENDS. 



(141: 



142 History of the Old Testament. 

and he said to them, You came to soothe me, but 
what you say does not soothe me at all. Did I send 
for you, or ask you to help me ? If you were in such 
grief as I am, I might say hard things of you and 
call you bad men. But I would not do so; but 
would speak kmd words to you, and try to help you 
bear your ills, and to make your grief less. 

Then Job spoke of his own griefs, and said: O, 
that the Lord would put me to death that I might 
suf-fer no more. When I lie down at night I can- 
not sleep, but toss on my bed in pain and wish the 
day would dawn. Or, if I fall a-sleep for a while, I 
have the worst kind of dreams, so that I would be 
glad to die and wake no more in this world. O, that 
I had some one to speak to God for me, for he does 
not hear when I pray. Yet I know that he lives who 
will save my soul, and that he will come on the earth, 
and I shall rise up from my grave and see God 
for my-self. 

But when Job found that he could not die, nor 
be made well, but must still bear his pains, he grew 
cross, and was not at all like the Job of old. He 
found fault, and said that his griefs were to9 great, 
and that God was not kind to put him in such pain. 

His three friends did not try to calm him, or to 
cheer him with the hope that his woes would soon 
be at an end, nor did they bid him trust in God and 



Job. 143 

seek help and strength from him. But they told him 
that he must have done some great wrong, else God 
would not have sent all these ills upon him. 

This did not please Job, and he spoke to them in 
great wrath, and they spoke back in the same style. 

When they had talked in this way for some time, 
and had each of them said things they ought not to 
have said, they heard a voice speak to them out of a 
whirl-wind that swept by the place. It was the voice 
of God. 

And the voice spoke to Job and told him of the 
great works that God had done ; that it was he who 
made the earth, the sea, and the sky. He sends the 
rain on the field to make the grass grow and the flow- 
ers to spring up. He sends the cold and the heat, 
the frost and the snow, and the ice that stops the flow 
of the streams. He sends the clouds, and the roar 
and the flash that come from them when the storms 
rage. He made the horse that is so swift and strong, 
and has no fear in time of war, but will rush in-to the 
fight at the sound of the trump. 

All this and more the voice spoke from the whirl- 
wind. And when God had told Job of all these 
great works, he asked him if he could do these things, 
or if he thought he was so wise that he could teach 
God what it was best to do. 

Then Job saw what a sin it was to find fault with 



144 History of the Old Testament. 

God. And he was full of shame, and said: My 
guilt is great ; I spoke of that of which I knew naught, 
and I bow down in the dust before thee. 

God said to Job's three friends, I am wroth with 
you, for you did not speak in the right way to Job. 
Now, lest I pun-ish you, take sev-en young bulls and 
sev-en rams and burn them on the al-tar, and ask Job 
to pray for you, for him will I hear. So they did as 
the Lord told them, and Job prayed for them, and 
God for-gave them their sins. 

In a short time Job was well once more. His 
pains all left him ; and then his friends and all his 
folks came to see him and they had a good feast. 
And each man brought him a rich gift, and the Lord 
blest him more than he had done before, and gave 
him twice as much wealth. He had great herds of 
sheep, and cam-els, and ox-en and ass-es, and large 
fields for them to roam in, and a host of men to care 
for them. So that he was a great man once more. 

And God gave him ten chil-dren: sev-en boys 
and three girls. And when these girls grew up, 
there were no maids in all the land so fair as they in 
face and form. And Job had great peace of mind, 
and dwelt at his ease for long, long years; and when 
he died he was an old, old man. 



CHAPTER XII. 



SAMUEL, THE CHILD OF GOD. 

There was a man of Is-ra-el who went up each 
year from the town of 
Ra-mah to a place called 
Shi-loh to pay his vows 
to the Lord of hosts. 
And his wife, whose 
name was Han-nah, 
went with him. The 
man's name was El-ka- 
nah. 

E-li was the high- 
priest at that time, and 
as he sat in the Lord's 
house he saw Han-nah 
on her knees with her 
eyes full of tears. 

And he spoke to her 
in akind voice, and said : 
May God grant thee 
what thou dost ask of 
him. And Han-nah was glad at the high-priest's 
words, for she had asked God to give her a son. 




SAM-U-EL. 



Y. F. B.— lo 



(145) 



146 History of the Old Testament. 

And the Lord gave Han-nah a son, and she 
called his name Sam-u-el, which means *' Asked of 
the Lord." 

Sam-u-el was quite young when Han-nah took 
him up to the house of the Lord at Shi-loh. And 
when they brought the child to E-li, Han-nah said, 
I am the wo-man that stood by thee here and prayed 
to the Lord. For this child did I pray, and the 
Lord heard me and gave me what I asked for. So 
I have brought him to the Lord ; so long as he lives 
shall he be the child of God. For this was the vow 
she made if God would give her a son. 

And Sam-u-el was left to stay with E-li in the 
Lord's house. 

Now E-li had two sons, and they were priests in 
the Lord's house. But they were not fit for the 
place, for they were bad men, and broke God's laws. 
And by their sins they kept men from the house of 
the Lord. 

But Sam-u-el, though a young child, did what was 
right and pleased the Lord. And his moth-er made 
him a coat, and brought it to him each year when 
she and her hus-band went up to Shi-loh. And E-li 
spoke kind words to them, and asked the Lord to 
bless them for the sake of the child whom they gave 
to him. 

Now E-li was an old man, and when he heard 



Samuel, the Child of God. 



147 



of all the things his sons had done, he did not drive 
them out of the Lord's house as he should have done, 
but let them go on in their sins. He cared more to 
please his sons than he 
did to please the Lord. 

One night when E-li 
and Sam-u-el lay down to 
sleep, the child heard a 
voice speak his name. 
And he said, Here am L 
And he got up and ran 
to E-li, for he thought it 
was his voice, and he said, 
Here am I, for thou did'st 
call me. 

E-li said, I did not call 
thee, my son. Go back, 
and lie down. And the 
lad did so. 

In a short time he 
heard the same voice say, 
Sam-u-el — Sam-u-el . 

X^llU. lie lObC <x\, once han-nah pre-sents sam-u-el to e-li. 

and went to E-li, and said 

to him, Here am I, for thou did'st call me. But 
E-li said, I did not call thee, and sent the lad back 
to his bed once more. 




148 History of the Old Testament. 

Then Sam-u-el heard the voice a third time, and 
went to E-H and said, Here am I, for thou did'st 
call me. 

And E-li knew it was the Lord who spoke to 
Sam-u-el. And he said to the lad, Go, lie down, and 
if he call thee, say, Speak, Lord, for I hear thee. 

And Sam-u-el went and lay down. And the 
Lord came for the fourth time, and called, Sam-u-el 
— Sam-u-el ! 

And Sam-u-el said. Speak, Lord, for I hear thee. 

And the Lord told Sam-u-el all that he meant to 
do to the house of E-li. He had let his sons go on 
in their sins, and they were to be put to death in a 
way that would make men fear God. 

Sam-u-el lay still till day-light. Then he rose, 
but did not dare to tell E-li what God had told him. 

But E-li called him and said. What did the Lord 
say to thee? I pray thee hide it not from me. 

So Sam-u-el told E-li all that the Lord had said. 
When E-li heard it, he said, It is the Lord, let him 
do what he thinks is best. 

And Sam-u-el grew, and the Lord was with him 
and blest him, and it was known to all that he was 
one of God's saints, who could fore-tell things that 
were to take place. Such wise men were some-times 
called seers. 

The words which God spoke to Sam-u-el came 



Samuel, the Child of God. 



149 



true; for the chil-dren of Is-ra-el went out to fight 
the Phil-is-tines, and a host of them were slain. 

Those who came back said, Let us take the ark 
out with us to save us from our foes. 




CAP-TURE OF THE ARK. 



Now God had not told them to take the ark, and 
it was a sin for them to touch it. They should have 
put their trust in the Lord, and looked to him for help. 



ISO History of the Old Testament. 

But they sent to Shi-loh for the ark, and E-li's 
two sons came with it. When it was brought to the 
camp the Jews gave such a shout that the earth shook 
with the noise. 

And when the Phil-is-tines heard it, they said, 
What does it mean ? And they were told that the ark 
of the Lord had been brought to the camp of Is-ra-el. 

And they were in great fear; for they said, God 
is come to the camp ! Woe un-to us, for this is the 
first time such a thing has been done ! 

And they said, Let us be strong and fight Hke 
men, that we may not be slaves to these Jews! 

So they fought once more with the Jews, and 
slew a host of them, and the rest fled to their tents. 
And the ark of the Lord fell in-to the hands of the 
foe, and E-li's two sons were slain. 

And the same day a man ran down to Shi-loh, 
with his clothes rent, and bits of earth on his head to 
show his grief. 

E-li sat on a seat by the way-side, where he kept 
watch, for he was in great fear lest harm should come 
to the ark of God. And when the man came through 
the crowd and told that the ark was lost, all cried out 
with great fear. And when E-li heard the noise, he 
said. What is it? What do those sounds mean? 
For his eyes were dim with age, and he could not see. 

And the man ran up to E-li and said, I am he 



Samuel, the Child of God. 



151 



that came out of the fight, and I fled from there 
to-day. 

And E"h said, What word hast thou, my son? 




THE RE-TURN OF THE ARK. 



And he said that Is-ra-el had been put to flight 
with great loss, his two sons were dead, and the ark 
of God in the hands of the Phil-is-tines. 

When the man spoke of the ark of God, E-h fell off 



152 History of the Old Testament, 

the seat by the side of the gate, and broke his neck, 
and died there. And he had been a high priest and 
a judge in Is-ra-el for two-score years. 

And the ark of God was with the Phil-is-tines 
for more than half the year, and to each place where 
it was sent it brought great grief. 

So at last they sent for their wise men, and said 
to them, What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? 
To what place shall we send it? 

And the wise men told them to make a new cart, 
and tie two cows to it, but to bring the calves home 
with them. Then they should put the ark on the 
cart, and let the cows draw it where they would. 

If the cows should leave their calves and go down 
to the land of Is-ra-el, it would be a sign that the 
Lord was their guide, and that he had sent these ills 
on the Phil-is-tines for their great sins. 

But if the cows did not take the ark, it would 
show that the Lord did not want it back, and that 
all these ills they had to bear had come by chance, 
and were not sent from the Lord. 

So the Phil-is-tines did as their wise men said. 
They took the two cows and tied them to the cart, 
and shut up their calves at home. And they laid 
the ark on the cart, and let the cows go where they 
chose. 

And the cows took the straight road to the land 



Samuel, the Man of God. 153 

of Is-ra-el till they came to a place called Beth-she- 
mesh. 

The Jews who dwelt there were out in the wheat 
fields. And the cows brought the cart to the fields of 
a man named Josh-u-a, and stood there by a great 
stone. 

Then some of the men of Le-vi came and took 
the ark and set it on the stone. And they broke up 
the cart, and burnt the cows as a gift of praise to 
the Lord. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SAMUEL THE MAN OF GOD. 

When E-li died, Sam-u-el was made a judge in 
Is-ra-el. And he went from place to place to teach 
men the law. And as the ark had not been brought 
back to Shi-loh, Sam-u-el built an al-tar in his own 
house and served God there. 

The chil-dren of Is-ra-el set up strange gods, and 
the Phil-is-tines went to war with them. And Sam- 
u-el told them to give up their false gods and serve 
the I ord, and he would save them from their foes. 
And they did so. And he said. Come up to Miz- 
peh, and I will pray to the Lord for you. 



154 History of the Old Testament. 

And they came to Miz-peh, and gave their hearts 
to the Lord, and were in grief for their sins. 

And when the Phil-is-tines heard they were at 
Miz-peh, they went up to fight them. And the 
chil-dren of Is-ra-el were in great fear, and Sam-u-el 
plead for them, and when the fight came on the Lord 
sent a fierce storm that put the Phil-is-tines to flight, 
and they fled from the field with great loss. 

And Sam-u-el set up a stone at Miz-peh, and gave 
it the name of Eb-en-e-zer — ''The Stone of Help." 

When Sam-u-el was an old man he set his two 
sons to judge Is-ra-el. But his sons were not just 
men, and did not rule as their fath-er had done. If 
a man did wrong, they would say it was right if he 
paid them for it. And the wise men came to Sam- 
u-el, and said to him, As thou art old, and thy sons 
walk not in thy ways, make us a king to judge us. 

Sam-u-el felt hurt when they asked him to choose 
a king, and asked the Lord to tell him what to do. 

And the Lord told Sam-u-el to choose a king 
for them. 

Now "there was a man whose name was Kish, 
and he had a son whose name was Saul, a tall young 
man of fine form and good looks. 

And the ass-es of Kish were lost. And he said 
to Saul, his son. Take one of the men with you, and 
go find the ass-es. 



Samuel, the Man of God. 



155 



And they went a long way and could not find 
them. And Saul said to the man with him, Come, 
let us go back, lest my fath-er think we are lost. 






» • ■■ ■— - I— Wl ^g^M^i 






,^W4^''"^ 



l'& 





THE STONE OF HELP. 



And the man said to Saul, There is a man of 
God here, and what he says is sure to come to pass. 
It may be that he can tell us what we ought to do 



156 History of the Old Testament. 

Saul said, Thy word is good ; come, let us go. 
And they went to the town where Sam-u-el, the man 
of God, was. And they met him on their way. 

And the Lord made it known to Sam-u-el that 
this was the man he should choose to reign in Is-ra-el. 

And Saul drew near to Sam-u-el, and said, Tell 
me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is. 

And Sam-u-el said, I am the seer; and the ass-es 
that were lost are found. And he took Saul and his 
man to his own house, and made them spend the 
night there. 

The next day Sam-u-el took Saul to the roof of 
his house, and had a talk with him. 

Then they went out on the street, and as they 
drew near the gate of the town, Sam-u-el said to Saul, 
Bid thy man pass on, but do thou stand still for a 
while, that I may show thee the word of God. 

Then Sam-u-el took a horn of oil and poured it 
on Saul's head. 

This was done when a man was made a high- 
priest; and the same thing was done when he was 
made a king. And God was pleased with Saul, and 
gave him a new heart; but as yet none but these two 
knew that Saul was to be King of the Jews. 

Sam-u-el spoke to the chil-dren of Is-ra-el and 
told them once more all that the Lord had done for 
them, how he had brought them out of the land of 



Samuel, the Man of Goa. 



157 



E-gypt, and set them free from their foes, and yet 
they would not serve the Lord, but cried out for a 
king. So he bade them all go up to Miz-peh that 
the Lord might choose them a king. 

And the 
Lord chose 
Saul. Butwhen 
the men went 
to seek for him, 
they could not 
find him. And 
the Lord said, 
He hath hid in 
the midst of the 
stuff And they 
ran and brought 
him out, and he 
was so tall that 
all the rest had 
to look up to 
him. 

And Sam- 
u-el said. This 
is he whom the Lord hath sent to rule thee. There 
is none like him, as thou canst see. 

And they all cried out, God save the king! 
Then Sam-u-el told them what they were to do, 




SAUL IN HIS HID-ING PLACE. 



158 History of the Old Testament. 

and how the king was to rule, and wrote it down in 
a book. 

When Saul had been king for two years, he set 
out with his son, Jon-a-than, to fight the Phil-is-tines. 
And a great host went with them. And the Phil- 
is-tines had more men than they could count. And 
when the Jews saw the strength of their foes, they 
were in great fear, and ran and hid in caves and pits, 
or fled to the high hills where the rocks would screen 
them. So there were but few left to go out with 
Saul, and they shook with dread. 

And Saul came to Gil-gal, where he was to meet 
Sam-u-el, but he was not there. Sam-u-el had told 
him to wait for him, and he would tell him what he 
was to do. 

But at the end of a week Saul had the flesh 
brought to him and laid on the stone, and he set fire 
to it, that the flame might rise to God and bring 
peace to the land. And as soon as Saul had done 
this thing, Sam-u-el came. And Saul went out to 
meet him, that he might bless him. 

And Sam-u-el said, What hast thou done? 

And Saul told of the strait he was in, and that 
the Phil-is-tines were near in great force, and said 
that when Sam-u-el did not come he felt that he must 
send up a plea to God for aid in this hour. 

Sam-u-el told him that he had done wrongs 



Samuel, the Man of God, 1 59 

When the Lord told him to wait, he should wait. 
And now his reign would be a short one, and God 
would choose a new king to take his place. 

In those days men fought with bows and ar-rows. 
And while the Jews were held as slaves by the 
Phil-is-tines they would not let them have swords or 
spears, lest they should rise up and kill them. 

And they sent all the smiths out of the land, lest 
they should make these things for the chil-dren of 
Is-ra-el. 

So when they went out to fight none of them had 
a sword or a spear but Saul and his son. 

In those days men wore coats of mail, and bore 
a shield with them so as to ward off the darts. These 
shields were made of a thick piece of wood, on which 
the skin of an ox was stretched when dried. 

Jon-a-than, Saul's son, wore a coat of mail, and 
had a man to bear his spear and his shield when he 
did not care to use them. And he said to his man. 
Come, let us go to the camp of the Phil-is-tines. For 
it may be that the Lord will help us. 

And the man said he would go. 

Jon-a-than said this should be their sign : They 
would go where the foe could see them, and if they 
said. Wait there till I come to you, they would know 
the Lord did not mean to help them. But if the 
Phil-is-tines s^aid, Come up to us and we will show 



i6o History of the Old Testament. 

you some-thing, they would go up, for the Lord 
would be with them. 

So Jon-a-than and his man stood out where the 
foe could see them. And the Phil-is-tines made 
sport of them, and cried out. Come up to us, and we 
will shew you some-thing. 

And the two went up the rocks on their hands 
and feet, and fought with the Phil-is-tines, and slew 
a score of them. And the Lord shook the earth, so 
that the Phil-is-tines were in great fear. 

Now Saul and the men who were with him did 
not know what his son had done. But his watch- 
man, who was on the look-out, saw that there was a 
fight in the camp of the Phil-is-tines, and told Saul 
of it. 

And Saul and his men went to join in the fight. 
And all those who had hid in caves and holes, or up 
on the mount, when they heard that the Phil-is-tines 
had fled, went with Saul, and Is-ra-el won the day. 

But Saul did not de-sire to please the Lord in all 
things. For when the Lord sent him out to fight 
King A-gag, he told Saul to wipe him and all he had 
from the face of the earth. But Saul kept back some 
of the spoils, the best of the sheep and lambs, and 
did not put the king to death as he should have done. 

And the Lord told Sam-u-el that Saul was not 
a good king, and his reign should be short. 



Samuel, the Man of God. 



i6i 



And it made Sam-u-el sad to hear this, and he 
prayed to God all night. Then he had a talk with 
Saul, who did not 
look at his sins in 
the right light. And 
Sam-u-el told him 
that his reign as 
king would soon be 
at an end. 

God told Sam- 
u-el not to mourn 
for Saul, but to go f 
down to Beth-le- 
hem, to the house 
of a man named 
Jes-se, one of whose 
sons was to be made 
king. And the Lord 
said he was not to 
look for one with a 
fine face or form. For 
the Lord sees not as 
man sees, and he 
looks on the heart. 

So he went down to Beth-le-hem, and did as the 
Lord told him. And Jes-se had his sev-en sons 
pass one by one before Sam-u-el. And Sam-u-el 

Y. F. B— II 




DA-VID A-NOINT-ED BY SAM-U -tL. 



1 62 History of the Old Testament. 

thought that the first-born must be the one whom 
God chose to be king. But the Lord told him he 
was not the one. And they all went by, and not 
one of them was the one on whom God had set his 
seal. 

And Sam-u-el said to Jes-se, Are these all thy 
sons? 

And Jes-se said, No there is yet one left; but he 
is quite a lad, and is now in the field where he cares 
for the sheep. 

And Sam-u-el told Jes-se to send for him at 
once. And Jes-se sent for him, and he was 
brought in, and his cheeks were red, and his eyes 
bright. And the Lord said to Sam-u-el, Rise — for 
this is he. 

And Sam-u-el rose, and took the horn of oil and 
poured it on the young man's head. So the Lord 
chose Da-vid to be king when Saul should be put 
out of the way. 

And Da-vid felt a great change in his heart, for 
the Lord was there to make him strong and wise, 
and fit for the high place he was to fill. 

But there was no peace in Saul's heart, and his 
mind was ill at ease. 

And his men said it might soothe him to have 
some one play on the harp. For sweet sounds will 
some-times calm the mind. 



David and Saul, 163 

So Saul said, Find a man who can play well on 
the harp, and bring him to me. 

And one of them said that he knew such a man. 
He was the son of Jes-se, who dwelt at Beth-le-hem, 
and his name was Da-vid. 

And Saul sent men to Jes-se and told him to 
send Da-vid, his son, who kept the sheep. 

And Da-vid came to Saul, and stayed with him 
to wait on him. And when Saul was sad and ill at 
ease, Da-vid would take his harp and play for him, 
and he would soon be well. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

DAVID AND SAUL. 

While Saul was yet king, the Phil-is-tines came 
forth once more to fight the chil-dren of Is-ra-el. 
And Saul and his men went out to meet them. 
There were two high hills on each side of a deep 
vale, and from these two hills the foe-men fought. 

The Phil-is-tines had on their side a man who 
was more than ten feet high. He wore a coat of 
mail, and was bound with brass from head to foot, so 
that no sword or spear could wound him. 

And he cried out to Saul's men, Choose a man 



1 64 History of the Old Testament. 

from your midst and let him come down to me. If 
he can fight with me and kill me, then we will be 
your slaves. But if I kill him then you must serve 
us. I dare you to send a man to fight with me. 

When Saul and his men heard these words they 
were in great fear, for there was no one in their ranks 
who would dare fight with such a gi-ant. 

And each morn and eve, for more than a month, 
this great man, whose name was Go-li-ath, drew near 
Saul and his troops and dared them to send a man 
out to fight him. 

Now when the war broke out three of Jes-se's 
sons went with Saul, but Da-vid went back to Beth- 
le-hem to feed sheep. 

And Jes-se said to Da-vid, Take this parched 
corn and these ten loaves of bread, and run down to 
camp and bring me back word how thy broth-ers 
are. 

And Da-vid rose up the next morn, and found 
some one to take care of his sheep, and went as his 
fath-er told him. 

And he came to the camp just as the men were 
on their way to the fight, and the air was filled with 
their shouts. 

And he left the goods he had brought in the care 
of a man, and ran in the midst of the troops, and 
ipoke to his three broth-ers. 



David and Saul. 



165 



And while he stood there, Go-li-ath came out 
from the ranks of the Phil-is-tines, and dared some 
one to fight with him. 

And Da-vid heard his words. And the men of 
Is-ra-el fled from 
his face. And Da- 
vid heard them 
speak of what would 
be done to the man 
who should kill 
him ; for the king 
would give him 
great wealth, and 



m 



a high 




set him 
place. 

And Da-vid 
spoke to the men 
near him, and made 
use of strong words. 

And his broth- 
ers told him to go 
home and take care of his sheep, for it was just a 
trick of his to come up to camp that he might see 
the fight. 

Da-vid said, I have done no wrong? and the men 
to whom he spoke went and told Saul what he had 
said. And Saul sent for him, but did not know 



DA-VID BE-FORE SAUL. 



i66 History of the Old Testament, 

that he was the same one who used to play on the 
harp for him. 

And Da-vid told Saul he would go out and fight 
the great man from Gath. And Saul said, Thou 
art but a youth, and he has been a man of war all 
his days. 

Then Da-vid told Saul how he had fought with 
and slain the wild beasts that came out of the woods 
to eat up the lambs of his flock. And, said he, this 
man is no more than a wild beast, and the Lord will 
save me from him as he did from the paw of the li-on 
and the bear. 

And Saul said, Go, and the Lord go with thee. 
And Saul put on him a coat of mail, and clothed 
him in brass from head to foot, and hung a sword at 
his side. But Da-vid took them all off, and said, I 
have not tried them, and can-not use them. 

And he took his staff in his hand, and chose '^v^ 
smooth stones from the brook and put them in a bag 
that he wore. And his sling was in his hand when 
he drew near to Go-li-ath. 

Go-li-ath came near to Da-vid, and when he saw 
what a youth he was, he drew up his head with 
great scorn. 

Da-vid ran to meet him, and put his hand in his 
bag and drew forth a stone, and slung it, and struck 
Go-li-ath on the fore-head with such force that the 




DA-VID WITH GOLI-ATH S HEAD. 



(167) 



1 68 History of the Old Testament. 

stone sank In through the bone and he fell on his 
face to the earth. 

Then Da-vid ran and stood on Go-li-ath, and 
drew his sword from its sheath, and slew him and 
cut off his head. 

And when the Phil-is-tines saw that the man 
in whom they had put their trust was dead they fled. 

And Da-vid came back from the fight with the 
head of Go-li-ath in his hand, and was brought to 
Saul. 

And Saul would not let Da-vid go back to his own 
home, but made him stay with him. And Jon-a- 
than fell in love with him, and to show his love, took 
off all the rich clothes he had on and put them on 
Da-vid, and gave him his sword, his bow, and his 
belt. And Da-vid did as Saul told him, and all who 
saw him were pleased with him, and Saul put him 
at the head of his men of war. 

But when King Saul and his men went through 
the towns on their way back from the fight, the folks 
came out and sang and danced to praise them for 
what they had done. 

But they said more in praise of Da-vid than of 
Saul, and when Saul heard it he was wroth, and from 
that day ceased to be Da-vid's friend. 

The next day Da-vid stood near Saul with his 
harp in his hand to play him some sweet tunes. 



David and Saul. 



169 



And Saul held a spear in his hand, and he cast it 

at Da-vid so that it would go through him and pin 

him to the wall. 

But Da-vid saw it 

and took a step one 

side, and it did him 

no harm. 

Twice was this 
done, and when 
Saul found that he 
could not hurt Da- 
vid, he was in great 
fear of him, for he 
knew the Lord was 
with him. So he 
drove Da-vid from 
his house, and sent 
men to lay in wait 
to kill him. 

But Da-vid fled 
from them and ran 
to the place where 
Jon-a-than was, 
and said to him, 
What have I done that the king seeks my life? 

Now Jon-a-than did not know that the king meant 
to kill Da-vid, so he said to him^ Thou shalt not die. 




JON-A-THAN AND DA-VID. 



lyo History of the Old Testament, 

My fath-er would have told me if he meant to kill 
thee. But Da-vid said it was true. 

The next day was to be a feast day, and the 
king would look for Dav-id to come and eat with 
him. But Da-vid was in such fear of Saul that he 
did not care to go, and begged Jon-a-than to let him 
hide him-self for three days. If the king asks where 
I am, said Da-vid, tell him that thou did'st give me 
leave to go home. 

Jon-a-than told Da-vid that at the end of the three 
days he should come and hide in the field near a rock 
that was there. And Jon-a-than said he would shoot 
three ar-rows as if he took aim at a mark. And he 
would send a lad out to pick them up. And if he 
said to the lad. Go, find them, they are on this 
side of thee, then Da-vid might know that all was at 
peace and the king would do him no harm. But if 
he should cry out that the darts were be-yond the lad, 
then Da-vid would know that he must flee, for the 
king meant to do him harm. 

So Da-vid hid him-self in the field ; and when 
the feast day came Saul sat down to eat with his back 
to the wall. And he saw that Da-vid was not in his 
place, but said not a word. The next day when he 
found Da-vid was not in his place, Saul said to his 
son. Why comes not Da-vid to eat these two days? 

Jon-a-than said that Da-vid plead so hard for 



David and Saul. 



171 



leave to go home to his own folks, that he had told 
him to go, and that was why he was not at the feast. 

Then Saul was 
in a great rage, 
and said to his 
son. As long as 
Da-vid lives thou 
canst not be a 
king. Send for 
him, and bring 
him here that he 
may be put to 
death. 

And Jon-a- 
than said. Why 
should he be 
slain ? What hath 
he done ? 

Saul threw 
his spear at Jon- 
a-than. And the 
young man knew 
by this that the 
king meant to kill 
Da-vid. So the next morn the king's son went out 
to the field, and took a lad with him. And he said. 
Run now, and pick up the ar-rows that I shoot. 




JON-A-THAN SHOOT-ING THE AR-ROWS. 



1/2 History of the Old Testament. 

And as he ran, Jon-a-than sent a dart o'er his 
head ; and when the lad came to the place where it 
fell, the king's son cried out, It is be-yond thee. 
Make haste, and stay not. 

Da-vid heard these words and knew that he must 
flee, for if Saul caught him he would kill him. 

The lad brought the darts to Jon-a-than, and did 
not know why the king's son had shot them and called 
out to him as he did. And Jon-a-than gave him his 
bow and ar-rows, and sent him back to town with 
them. 

As soon as the lad was gone, Da-vid came out 
from the place where he was hid, and fell on his face 
to the ground, and bowed three times. Then he 
rose and threw his arms round Jon-a-than's neck, 
and the two friends wept as if their hearts would break. 

Then Da-vid fled from Saul, and hid in the woods 
and caves. 

Saul went out with a large force of men to seek 
Da-vid on the rocks where the wild goats fed. 
And Saul came to a cave, and went in to lie down 
and rest. 

Da-vid and his men were in the cave, but Saul 
could not see them. And the men wished to kill 
Saul; but Da-vid would not let them. While he 
was there Da-vid stole up to Saul and cut off a piece 
of his robe. And Saul did not know it. 



174 Hisivry of the Old Testament, 

When Saul went out of the cave, Da-vid went 
out af-ter him and cried out, My lord and my king ! 

And when Saul looked back, Da-vid bowed down 
to him with his face to the earth. And he told Saul 
to pay no heed to those who said he meant to harm 
the king. For if he had sought to kill Saul he might 
have done so that day while he was in the cave. 
And Da-vid showed Saul the piece of his robe he 
had cut off. 

And some bade me kill thee, said Da-vid, but I 
would not, for thou art my lord and my king. Then 
Da-vid held up the piece of cloth he had cut from 
Saul's robe, and said. Since I was so near thee as 
to cut this off and did not kill thee, thou may'st know 
that I have no wish to harm thee. Yet thou dost 
hunt for me to kill me. Let the Lord judge 'twixt 
thee and me, and save me from thy hand, and save 
thee as he will, for I will not harm thee. 

When Saul heard Da-vid speak thus, all hate 
went out of his heart, and he wept as he said, Thou 
hast done good to me for the wrongs I did thee, and 
may the Lord bless thee for it. Now I know that 
thou wilt some day be the king of Is-ra-el. 

And Saul went home, and Da-vid and his men 
went back to the cave. 

But Da-vid knew that he could not trust Saul, so 
he fled to the land of the Phil-is-tines, and he 



David and Saul. 



17s 



and his men dwelt there in the town of Gath for 
the space of a year and four months. 

While he was 
there, the Phil-is-tines 
went out to fight with 
Saul once more, and 
when he saw what a 
host of them there 
was, his heart shook 
with fear. He asked 
the Lord what he 
should do, but the 
Lord did not come 
to him in dreams, or 
speak one word to him. 

S a m - u - e 1 was 
dead, and the Lord 
had said it was a sin 
to go to a witch, or a 
seer, to find out the 
things that would 
take place, and Saul 
had sent all these 
folks out of the land. 

But now he was in such a strait that he felt he 
must have help of some sort. And one of his men 
told him there was at En-dor a witch who could work 




DA-VID TAKES GO-LI- ATHS SWORD. 



1/6 History of the Old Testament. 

strange charms, and fore-tell what was to take place. 
So the king drest him-self so that he would not be 
known, and went at night with two of his men to see 
the witch of En-dor. And he said to her, Bring me 
up him whom I shall name to thee. 

And the witch said to him. Dost thou not know 
that Saul has sent all those that work charms out of 
the land? And why dost thou set a snare for my 
life, so that I will be put to death 't 

And Saul said. As the Lord lives there shall no 
harm come to thee for this thing. 

Then the witch said. Whom shall I bring up to 
thee? And he said. Bring me Sam-u-el. 

So the witch made strange signs and spoke strange 
words, and swept her wand round and round. And 
when she saw the form of Sam-u-el rise up, she cried 
with a loud voice. Why did'st thou not tell me the 
truth ? for thou art Saul ! 

And the king said. Have no fear. What did'st 
thou see? 

And the witch said, I saw an old man with a 
cloak round him. 

And Saul knew it was Sam-u-el, and bowed his 
face to the ground. And Sam-u-el said, Why hast 
thou brought me up? And Saul told him that he 
was in a great strait, that God had left him, and did 
not come to him in dreams or by the hand of wise 










Y. F. B.— 12 



David and Saul. ^79 

men, and he thought that Sam-u-el might tell him 
what to do. 

Sam-u-el said, Why then dost thou ask of me if 
the Lord hath left thee? He hath done to thee just 
as he said he would. Thy reign is at an end, and 
Da-vid shall rule in thy stead. And he told Saul 
that the next day he and his sons would be dead, 
and Is-ra-el in the hands of the foes. 

When Saul heard these words he fell down in a 
swoon, for he had had no food for a day and a night. 

And the witch brought bread and bade him eat, 
that he might have strength to go on his way. And 
Saul and his men ate of the food, and went their way 
that night. 

Now the lords of the Phil-is-tines brought all 
their troops to a place called A-phek. And the king 
of Gath went there, and took Da-vid and his men 
with him. But the lords of the Phil-is-tines would 
not have the Jews in their midst lest they should turn 
on them and give them in-to the hands of king Saul. 

So Da-vid and his men had to leave the camp, 
and the Phil-is-tines went out to fight, and the men 
of Is-ra-el fled from them with great loss. The king's 
three sons were slain, and an ar-row struck Saul and 
gave him a bad wound. 

And Saul said to the man who bore his shield, 
Draw thy sword and put me to death. But the man 



i8o History of the Old Testament. 

did not dare to kill his king. So Saul took his own 
sword and fell on it, and thus died by his own hand. 
And when the man saw that Saul was dead, he fell 
on his sword and died with him. 

And when it was known that Saul and his sons 
were dead, the Jews fled from that part of the land, 
and the Phil-is-tines went to live there. 

In the course of a few years Da-vid was made 
king of Is-ra-el, and then went to live at Je-ru-sa-lem. 
He went to war, and took spoils of rich kings, and 
the Lord was with him, for he sought to do that 
which was right and just. 

Da-vid had two sons : Sol-o-mon and Ab-sa-lom. 

And in all the land there was no man with such 
a fine face and form as Ab-sa-lom, and he won much 
praise for his good looks. And he had a thick 
growth of long hair. But Ab-sa-lom had a bad 
heart, and his sins made Da-vid weep. But he did 
not scold Ab-sa-lom as he should have done, for the 
king was fond of his son, and so Ab-sa-lom went on 
from bad to worse. 

He told what he would do when he was king, 
and made friends with those who thought it a fine 
thing to be on good terms with the king's son. 

When he was two-score years of age, Ab-sa-lom 
said to the king, Let me, I pray thee, go up to Heb- 
ron to pay my vows. 



David and Saul. 



i8i 



And Da-v!d told him to go. But it was not to 
serve the Lord that Ab-sa-lom went, but to have 
him-self made king 
in-stead of Da-vid. 
And he took ten score 
men with him, who 
did not know why or 
where they went, and 
sent spies all through 
the land to speak in 
his praise and urge 
that he be made king. 

And when Da-vid 
heard of it he said to 
his men, Rise, let us 
flee from this place, 
lest Ab-sa-lom come 
and put us to death. 

And they all fled 
from Je-ru-sa-lem, and 
went to hide in some 
lone place. And 
when Ab-sa-lom came 
to Je-ru-sa-lem he 
went to one of Da-vid's friends and asked him what 
he should do to be made king. A-hith-o-phel, who 
had once been a friend of Da-vid, and had now gone 




DA-VlD FOR-GIV-ING AB-SA-LOM. 



1 82 History of the Old Testament, 

with the king's f^on, had said that he would go out 
with a large force and come up with Da-vid when he 
was weak and faint, so that he would be in a great 
fright. Those who were with Da-vid would flee, 
and he would soon put the king to death. Then, of 
course, Ab-sa-lom would be king. 

But Ab-sa-lom would not do this till he had heard 
what Hu-sha-i said. Now Hu-sha-i was a true friend 
of Da-vid, and he told Ab-sa-lom to take more men 
than A-hith-o-phel had said, for he thought that 
would give Da-vid a chance to get out of the way. 
And Hu-sha-i sent two young men to tei) Da-vid not 
to stop on the plains that night, but to cross the Jor- 
dan, lest he and all who were with him should be 
put to death. 

But a boy saw the two sons of the high-priest who 
were on their way to Da-vid, and went and told Ab- 
sa-lom. And the priest's sons ran to a house near 
by, and hid in the well. And the woman who kept 
the house spread corn on top so that no one could 
see that a v/ell was there. 

And when Ab-sa-lom's men came up and asked 
the wo-man where the priest's sons were, she said 
they had gone on past the brook Ked-ron. And 
when the two could not be found the men went back. 

Then the priest's sons came up out of the well, 
and made haste to give to Da-vid the word that Hu- 



David and Saul. 



183 



I mi 



a--. 






r^^Vpcg^: 






sha-i had sent. And at dawn Da-vid and all his 
men crossed the Jor-dan. 

As soon as Ab-sa-lom had all the men he thought 
he would need, he set out to fight with Da-vid. And 
Da-vid drew up his men in line, and put Jo-ab at 
their head. And the king 
said, I will go out with 
you. But the men said 
he should not; so Da-vid 
staid by the gate and saw 
them go out to the fight, 
and bade them be kind to 
Ab-sa-lom for his sake. 

The fight took place in 
a wood. Ab-sa-lom rode 
on a mule, and as the mule 
passed 'neath a great oak, 
Ab-sa-lom's head caught 
in a branch, and he hung 
in mid air, while the mule 
went off down the road. 

And a man saw it and told Jo-ab. And Jo-ab 
said. Why did'st thou not kill him ? And the man 
said he would not kill the king's son, for he had heard 
Da-vid ask them to be kind to him. 

But Jo-ab said, I can-not waste time with thee. 
And he took three darts in his hand and thrust them 




THE DEATH OF AB-SA-LOM. 



1 84 



History of the Old Testament. 



througn^ Ab-sa-lom, so that he died. And he was 
thrown in-to a pit that was in the wood, and a great 
heap of stones was piled on him. And all the men 

who had been with 
him went back to 
their tents. 

Da-vid sat in 
the gate, and when 
men came back 
with news of the 
fight, he would ask 
of each one, Is 
Ab-sa-lom safe? 
And at last one of 
them said. May all 
the king's foes be 
as this young man 
is. Then Da-vid 
knew that Ab-sa- 
lom was dead, and 
he went to his own 
room and wept. 

And he cried 
out with a loud 
voice, O, my son, Ab-sa-lom ; my son, my son Ab- 
sa-lom ! I would that God had let me die in thy 
stead, O, Ab-sa-lom, my son, my son ! 




DA-VlD HEAR-ING OF AB-SA-LOM'S DEATH. 



Solomon, the Wise Man. 185 

Da-vid was king for two-score years, and was an 
old man when he died and had hosts of friends. 
And when he felt that his death was near, he bade 
his men take Sol-o-mon to a place called Gi-hon, and 
pour oil on his head. Then they were to blow the 
horn and cry out, God save King Sol-o-mon. 

And this was done ; and when Da-vid died, Sol- 
o-mon sat on his throne and ruled Is-ra-el. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SOLOMON, THE WISE MAN. 

SoL-o-MON gave his heart to God when he was 
young, and tried to lead a good life, and to do no 
wrong. And God spoke to him in a dream one 
night and said. Ask what I shall give thee. 

And Sol-o-mon said, Grant me, I pray thee a 
wise mind that I may know right from wrong, and 
judge well those who look up to me as their king. 

This speech pleased the Lord, and he said, Since 
thou didst not ask me for great wealth, or for long 
life, or that thy foes might be put to death, I will 
make thee wise, and will give thee both great wealth 
and a long life if thou wilt serve me and keep my 
laws. 



1 86 



History of the Old Testament, 



There came two wo-men to the king. And one 
of them said, My lord, 1 and this wo-men live in one 
house, and we each of us had a son. And this wo- 
man's child died 
in the night, and 
while I slept she 
came and took 
my child from 
me, and laid her 
own child by my 
side. And when 
I woke, and went 
to feed my child, 
itwasdead. And 
I knew it was not 
my son. 

It is your 
son. 

It is not; the 
child that lives 
is mine. 

The dead 
child is yours. 
In this way 

they spoke, and the king heard them, and said, Bring 
me a sword ! 

And a sword was broui^ht to him. 




THE JUDG-MENT OF SOL-0-MON. 



Solomon, the Wise Man, 



187 



And the king said, Cut the live child in two, 
and give half to one and half to the other. 

When the real moth-er of the child heard these 
words she cried 
out, O my lord, 
give her the 
child, but do not 
kill it. 

But the oth- 
er said, Cut it in 
half, and let it 
not be hers or 
mine. 

Then the 
king told his 
men to give the 
child to the one 
who tried to 
save its life, for 
he knew that 
she was the 
moth-er. And 
it was to find 
this out that he 
sent the men for the sword, and not to take the 
child's life. 

When Sol-o-mon had been king for four years, 




SHIPS Of SOL-O-MON. 



1 88 History of the Old Testament. 

he laid out the plan that Da-vid had made for the 
house of the Lord. 

He had a talk with Hi-ram the king of Tyre, and 
told him that it was time to build the house. And 
the king of Tyre was glad, and did all he could to 
aid him. He sent Sol-o-mon great trees from the 
woods, and sent him men to help In the work; men 
who had skill with the ax, and with fine tools of all 
sorts. 

The house was built of stone, and each stone was 
hewn from the rock, cut so as to fit in the wall ere 
it was brought to the place where it was to stand, so 
that no ax nor tools should be used in the house when 
it was put up. 

The walls of the rooms were in-laid with gold, 
and gems, and the floor of the place where the ark 
was kept was of pure gold, and in front of the shrine 
were loops and chains of fine gold. 

The doors of the house were made of the wood 
of the fir tree, and they were carved with great skill, 
and touched up with gold. 

It took Sol-o-mon sev-en years to build the house 
of the Lord ; and when it was done he made a feast, 
and the priests brought the ark of the Lord from 
Mount Zi-on, where Da-vid kept it. 

And all the tribes of Is-ra-el came to Je-ru-sa-lem, 
that they might be there when the ark was brought. 



Solomon, the Wise Man. 



191 



And when the ark was put in its place, and the 
priests came out, there was such a cloud in the house 
that all stood still. For the Lord was in the cloud. 

Then Sol-o- 
mon stood up, and 
with raised hands 
asked him to come 
down and dwell in 
the house, and to 
dwell in men's 
hearts, that they 
might walk in the 
right way, and love 
God all their days. 

Now the fame 
of Sol-o-mon came 
to the ears of a rich 
queen, who dwelt 
at She-ba, and she 
thought she would 
like to see if this 
man was as wise 
and rich as he was 
said to be. She queen or shh-ba. 

had a long way to come, and a great train came with 
her, and these brought loads of rich spice, and 
gold and sil-ver and gems of worth. And the queen 




192 History of the Old Testament. 

had a talk with Sol-o-mon and he told her all she 
ought to know. 

And she said to the king, What I had heard of 
thee in my own lands I did not think could be true. 
So I came to see for my-self, and I find the half 
was not told me. So she gave rich gifts to Sol-o- 
mon, and he gave rich gifts to her, and the queen 
went back to her own land. 

Now it was thought no sin in those days for a 
man to have more than one wife. And some of Sol- 
o-mon's wives had been brought up to serve false 
gods. And it was a sin for the king to wed with 
such. And as he grew old these wives made him 
serve their Gods, and turn from the true God whom 
he had been taught to love and fear. 

And this did not please the Lord, and he said 
that Sol-o-mon's son should not be king when Sol-o- 
mon died. For Da-vid's sake he would let him be 
a prince of two tribes all the days of his life. But 
ten tribes he would take from him. 

And foes rose up to plague Sol-o-mon, and for 
his sins he had to give up the peace and rest that 
had long been his. When he had been king for two- 
score years Sol-o-mon died, and his fame has come 
down to this day, for no man has been born in-to the 
world so wise and great as King Sol-o-mon. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



ELIJAH. 



A-HAB was the last of the six kings who ruled the 
ten tribes. And he made them serve Ba-al, and 
built a house for this false god. 

These acts did not please God, so he sent E-li- 
jah, a seer, to tell A-hab that for years and years 
there should be no rain in the land. And he told 
E-li-jah to hide near a brook from which he should 
drink, and the birds of the air would bring him 
food to eat. 

E-li-jah did as the Lord told him, and he drank 
from the brook, and the birds brought him his food 
from day to day. But as there was no rain, the 
brook dried up, and there was lack of food in the land. 

So the Lord told Elijah to go to the town of Za- 
re-phath, where a wo-man dwelt who would give him 
food. 

And when E-li-jah came to the gate of the town, 
a poor wo-man drew near him to pick up some sticks. 
And he said to her, Bring me a drink, I pray thee. 

And as she went, he said, Bring me, I pray thee, 
a bit of bread in thine hand. 

Y. F. B.— 13 (193) 




(194) 



E-LI-IAH FED BY RA-VENS. 



Elijah. 



195 



And she said, As the Lord Hves, I have no bread 
in the house, and but a hand-ful of meal, and a few 
drops of oil. And I came out to pick up a few sticks 
that I might light the fire, and bake a small loaf for 
me and my son, that we 
may eat it and die. 

E-li-jah said. Fear 
not ; go and do as thou 
hast said. But first make 
me a small loaf, and then 
make one for thee and 
thy son. For thus saith 
the Lord, The meal shall 
not waste, nor the cruse 
of oil fail till the day the 
Lord sends rain on the 
earth. 

So the wo-man went 
her way and did as E-li- 
jah told her, and there was 
from that time no lack of 
food in her house. But 
one day her son was ill, 
and he grew worse and worse, and then died. 

When E-li-jah heard of it, he said. Give me thy 
son. And he took the child from her arms and bore 
him to his own room, and laid him on his bed. 




ELI-JAH AND THE WID-OW S CHILD. 



196 History of the Old Testament. 

And E-li-jah cried to the Lord, and said, O Lord, 
I pray thee let this child's soul come back to him. 

And the Lord sent back the soul of the child, 
and E-li-jah took the boy and brought him to his 
moth-er. 

And she said to E-li-jah, Now by this I know 
that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the 
Lord in thy mouth is truth. 

For three years there had been no rain in the 
land, and at the end of that time the Lord said to 
E-li-jah, Go show thy-self to A-hab, and I will send 
rain on the land. 

So E-li-jah went, and on the way he met with 
one of A-hab's head men, who loved the Lord. He 
knew E-li-jah, and bade him turn back, for the king 
would be sure to put him to death. But E-li-jah 
said that he would shew him-self to A-hab that day. 
So the man told the king that E-li-jah was near, and 
the king came out to meet him. 

And he found fault with E-li-jah, for he thought 
he was to blame for the lack of food, and for the 
long drouth. 

E-li-jah told the king to have all those he ruled 
meet in a mass at one place. And when they came 
there, E-li-jah cried out to them. How long will ye 
turn your hearts from God ? 

And he told them to prove which was the true 



Elijah. 



197 



God, Ba-al, or E-li-jah's God. And he told them to 
bring two young bulls, and to take the flesh of one 
and lay it on the wood in front of Ba-al, and he would 
lay the flesh of the oth- 
er young bull on the 
Lord's al-tar. And he 
said, Call ye on your 
gods and I will call on I 
mine, and let the God 
that sends down fire be 
the God whom we all 
shall serve. 

And they said it was 
a good plan. 

So they cried out 
from sun-rise till noon, O 
Ba-al, hear us! But 
there was no voice or 
sign that their god heard 
them. 

E-li-jah said. Cry 
with a loud voice, for he 
is a god. He may be 
asleep, or lost in thought. 

And they cried, and made a great noise, and at 
last fought with their knives till they drew blood. 

And E-li-jah said, Come near me. 




THE LIT-TLE CLOUD. 



198 History of the Old Testament 

And they all came near to him. 

And E-li-jah took twelve stones, and built an al- 
tar to the Lord. And he put the flesh and the wood 
on it, and the wood was wet through and through. 

Then he cried out. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, 
and let it be known that thou art the true God. 

Then fire came down from on high and burnt up 
the flesh, and the wood and the stones, and the dust ; 
and the ground that had been made so wet was as dry 
as it could be. 

And when the crowd saw this they all bowed 
down to the ground, and said. The Lord he is God ! 
The Lord he is God ! 

And they broke up the false gods, and gave their 
hearts for a while to the Lord. 

Then E-li-jah told A-hab that he might eat and 
drink, for the rain would soon set in. And he went 
to the top of a high mount to pray for rain. Not a 
cloud was in the sky. The sea was calm. But E-li- 
jah knew that he must watch, and wait, and pray, 
and the sign would come. 

At last there rose up out of the sea — that is, 
where the sea and sky seem to meet — a small cloud, 
the size of a man's hand. And soon the sky was 
black with clouds, and the wind blew, and there was 
a great storm of rain. 

Now A-hab had a bad wife, and when he told 



Elijah 



199 



her what E-H-jah had done, she made a vow to kill 
him. 

And E-li-jah had to flee for his life. He was so 
worn out that when he came to a lone place he sat 
down in the shade of a 
tree and wished that he 
might die. While he 
slept, an an-gel drew near, 
at whose touch E-li-jah 
woke- And the an-gel 
said. Rise and eat. 

And E-li-jah found 
food and drink set out for 
him. And he ate and 
drank, and then lay down 
and slept. And the an- 
gel came once more, and 
bade E-li-jah eat, that he 
might have strength to go 
on his way. And he sat 
up, and ate the food the 
Lord had sent, and it gave 
him such strength that he 
went with-out food for more than a month. And 
at the end of that time he came to Mount Ho-reb. 
And he went to a cave and lay down and slept there. 

And the Lord spoke to him, and said, Why art 




E-U-JAH AND KING A-HAB. 



200 



History of the Old Testament. 



thou here, E-H-jah ? And E-h-jah said the chll-dren 
of Is-ra-el had not kept their word, but had gone 

,,„„„,,,^„^^ back to their false 
gods, and slam all 
those who sought 
to turn them from 
their sins. And I 
have fled from 
them, said E-li-jah, 
for they seek my 
life. 

The Lord said. 
Go forth, and stand 
on the mount. And 
there came a great 
wind that split the 
high hills, and 
broke up the rocks. 
But the Lord was 
not in the wind. 

Then the earth 
shook, so that there 
was no firm ground 

E-LI JAH IN THE WIL-DER-NESS. 1 * 1 j_ 11 

on which to walk; 
and smoke came up out of the great cracks that were 
made. But the Lord was not in the earth-quake. 
Then there came a still, small voice. When E-li- 




Elijah. 



20I 



jah heard it he hid his face in his cloak, and went 
out and stood at thedoor of the cave. 

And the voice said, 
Why art thou here, E-H- 
jah? And E-U-jah said 
that he fled from those 
who sought to kill him. 
And the Lord told him 
to leave the cave, and go 
back, and pour oil on the 
head of E-li-sha, who 
was to take his place. 

And E-li-jah found 
E-li-sha at work with 
the plough in a large 
field. And as he went 
by him he threw his 
cloak round E-li-sha. 

And E-li-sha knew 
that this meant he must 
leave all and go with 
E-li-jah. And he went 
home to bid fare -well to 
his dear ones there, and 
then came back to be near E-li-jah and to wait on him. 

Now the time drew near when E-li-jah was to 
leave the earth. And he and E-li-sha stood near 




E-Ll-JAH GOES TO HEAV-EN. 



202 History of the Old Testamen*^ 

the shore of the Jor-dan. And E-H-jah took his 
cloak and struck the waves, and they made a wall 
on each side, and the two men went through on dry 
land. And as they stood on the oth-er side, E-li-jah 
said to E-li-sha, Ask what I shall do for thee, ere 1 
leave thee. 

And E-li-sha said, Let me, I pray thee, be twice 
as good and wise as thou. 

E-li-jah said. Thou dost ask a hard thing. But 
if thou dost see me when the Lord takes me from 
thee, then it shall be so. But if thou dost not see, 
then it shall not be so. 

So they went on, and while they yet spoke, there 
came a great light in the sky, and the clouds took on 
strange forms. And E-li-jah was caught up as if by 
a whirl-wind, and E-li-sha cried out as he saw hin 
pass through the sky, but he was soon out of sights 
and E-li-sha saw him no more. 



CHAPTER XVn. 

ELISHA. 

As E-li-jah rose trom the earth he let his cloak 
fall on E-li-sha. And E-li-sha went down to the 
Jor-dan, and took the cloak and struck the waves, 



Elisha. 



203 



and they stood up on each side, so that he went 
a-cross dry shod. And it was made known to all 
the seers and wise men that E-h-sha had been called 
to fill E-li-jah's place, 
and he gave proof 
that the Lord was 
with him. 

As E-li-sha went 
from Jer-i-cho to 
Beth-el, some young 
folks ran out and 
made fun of him, and 
cried, Go up, thou 
bald head! Go up, 
thou bald head! 

E-li-sha turned 
back, and asked the 
Lord to take them in 
hand. So the Lord 
sent two great bears 
out of the wood, and 
they fell on the chil- 
dren and tore over 
two-score of them. 




THE CHILD-REr OF BETH-EL. 



One day E-li-sha came to Shu-nem, where a rich 
wo-man dwelt. And she bade him come in and eat. 
And as oft as he went that way, he made it a rule 



204 History of the Old Testament. 

to stop and take the food and drink she set out 
for him. 

And she had a room built for him on the side of 
her house, and put a bed and a chair in it, that he 
might go in and out as he chose, and have a place 
to rest in. 

And one day when he was in this room, he sent 
for the wo-man to come to him. And he said to 
her, What can I do to pay thee for all thy kind care 
of us? Shall I speak to the king for thee? She 
said there was no need, that she sought no pay, and 
then left the room. 

E-li-sha said to his man, What is there that I can 
do for her? 

And the man said, She has no child. 

And E-li-sha said. Call her. And she came 
back and stood at the door. And when the man of 
God told her that she should have a son, she thought 
he did not speak the truth. 

And the word of the Lord came true, for in less 
than a year she had a son. 

And the child grew up, and went out one day to 
the field to see the men reap the corn. And while 
he was there he felt sick, and cried out to his fath-er, 
My head ! my head ! 

And his fath-er said to a lad, Take the boy home 
to his moth-er. And she took him, and he sat in 



E lis ha. 205 

her lap till noon, and then died. And she took 
the boy to E-li-sha's room, and laid him on the bed 
of the man of God, and then went out and shut 
the door. 

Then she sent for one of the young men, and had 
him bring an ass to the door, and she got on the ass, 
and bade the man drive as fast as he could till she 
told him to stop. 

She- went till she came near Mount Car-mel. 
And E-li-sha saw her, and sent Ge-ha-zi out to meet 
her, and to ask her if it was well with her and with 
the child. And she said to him. It is well. 

But when she came to E-li-sha she fell at his feet, 
and Ge-ha-zi drew near to push her from the man of 
God. 

But E-li-sha said. Touch her not. She is in 
great grief, and the Lord has hid it from me and not 
told me of it. 

And the wo-man said, Did I ask thee for a son ? 
Then he knew that the boy was dead. 

Then E-li-sha said to Ge-ha-zi, Take my staff, and 
go thy way with all speed. Stop to speak to no one. 
And lay my staff on the face of the child. 

And the moth-er of the child said, As the Lord 
lives, I will not leave thee. And E-li-sha rose and 
went with her, while Ge-ha-zi ran on a-head. And 
he laid the staff on the face of the child, but the child 



2o6 History of the Old Testament, 

did not speak nor hear. And he ran out to meet 
E-H-sha and to tell him the lad did not wake. 

And when E-li-sha came to the house he found 
the child dead, and laid on his bed. So he went in 
the room and shut the door, and prayed to the Lord. 

Then he got on the bed, and lay on the child till 
his flesh grew warm. Then he left the room for a- 
while to walk up and down, and when he went back 
he lay on the child till its breath came back, and it 
gave signs of life. 

And he sent for the moth-er. And when she 
came to the room he said, Take up thy son. And 
she fell at the feet of E-li-sha, with thanks too deep 
for words, and then took her son in her arms and 
went out. 

There was a man in Sy-ri-a, who took charge of 
all the troops that went to war with the king. This 
man's name was Na-a-man, and he had done brave 
deeds, for which he held high rank, and was much 
thought of. But this man fell ill, and none but those 
of his own house would go near him. And there 
was no cure for him. But his wife had a maid to 
wait on her. And this maid said that if Na-a-man 
would go to E-li-sha she was sure that he would cure 
him. 

And Na-a-man came down to Sa-ma-ri-a with a 
note from his own king to the king of Is-ra-el. 



Elisha. 



207 



When the king of Is-ra-el read the note he was very 
wroth, and said, Am I God that I can bring the 
dead to hfe ? For he thought that it was but a trick 
to bring on a 
war. ^ 

When E-H- 
sha heard that 
the king rent his 
clothes, he sent 
word to have 
Na-a-man come 
to him. 

And Na-a- 
man drove up in 
fine style, and 
stood at the door 
of E-li-sha's 
house. And E-li- 
sha sent word to 
him to bathe at 
the Jor-dan sev- 
en times, and he 
would be made 
well. 

This put Na-a-man in a rage, for he thought that 
E-li-sha would come out to him and call on the name 
of God, and touch him so as to heal him. 




E-LI-SHA AND THE CHILD. 



2o8 History of the Old Testament, 

And he said, Are there not streams in Da-mas- 
cus in which I can bathe and be made well? And 
he went off in a rage. 

But some of his men drew near, and said, My 
lord, if he had bid thee do some great thing wouldst 
thou not have done it ? Why not then do as he says, 
and wash and be clean? 

And Na-a-man gave heed to their words and 
went down to the Jor-dan. And he took sev-en 
baths, and then his flesh grew as soft and pink as 
the flesh of a child, and health and strength came 
back to him. And Na-a-man went back to E-li-sha's 
house, he and all his men, and he said. Now I know 
there is no God in all the earth but the God of Is- 
ra-el. 

Now the time drew near when E-li-sha was to 
die. And the king, Jo-ash, came to see him as he 
lay sick in bed. 

And E-li-sha said. Take the bow and the darts. 
And the king took them. And E-li-sha said, Put 
thy hands on the bow. And the king did so, and 
E-li-sha put his hands on the king's hands. Then 
E-li-sha said. Throw wide the east win-dow. And 
when this was done he said shoot. And the king 
shot; and E-li-sha told him that he should set Is-ra- 
el free from its foes. 

Then he said to the king, Take the darts. And 



Elisha. 



209 



he took them. And E-li-sha said, Strike them on 
the ground. And the king struck them on the 
ground three times, and no more. 

And the 
man of God was 
wroth with him, 
and said, Thou 
shouldst have 
struck five or 
six times, for 
then thou 
wouldst have 
laid the Sy-ri- 
ans low, now 
thou shalt smite 
them but three 
times. 

And E-li- 
sha died, and 
was laid in the 
ground. And 
one day as some 
of the folks 
went out with a dead man to lay him in the grave 
that was dug for him, they saw a band of thieves 
from the land of Mo-ab and did not dare to go on. 
So they put the dead man in the grave where E-li- 

Y. F. B.— 14 




THE AR-ROW OF DE-LIV-ER-ANCE. 



210 History of tke Old Testament. 

sha lay. And as soon as the corpse touched the 
bones of E-H-sha the man came to hfe and stood 
on his feet. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

JONAH, THE MAN WHO TRIED TO HIDE FROM GOD. 

There was a seer in Is-ra-el whose name was 
Jo-nah. And the Lord told Jo-nah to go to Nin-e- 
veh, a large town where there was great need of good 
men. But Jo-nah did not care to go there, so he 
ran down to J op-pa and found a ship there that would 
set sail for Tar-shish in a few days. So he paid his 
fare, and went on board the ship to go to Tar-shish. 
where he seemed to think the Lord would not find 
him. 

But as soon as the ship was w^ell on its way, the 
Lord sent forth a great wind, and the waves rose 
high, and the storm beat the ship, and it was blown 
here and there as if it were a toy. And those on 
board of her were in great fear, and cried out to their 
gods, and threw all the goods that were in the ship 
in-to the sea, so that she would not sink. 

Jo-nah was down in the hold, where he lay and 
slept, though the storm was so fierce. 

And the one who had charge of the ship came 



Jonah, the Man who Tried to Hide from God. 



211 



to him and said, What does this mean? Rise, and 
call on thy God to save us from ship-wreck. 

And the rest of the men said. Come, and let us 
cast lots that we 
may know who 
is to blame for 
this. 

So they cast 
lots, and the lot 
fell on Jo-nah. 
And they said 
to him, Tell us, 
we pray thee, 
who has brought 
on us these ills. 
What is thy 





lit ji*' * ■ • 



u 



h 



>>,l' 



s j.- 



l _ ^. /-"V^ \ .Tc. 



trade? where 
dost thou come 
from? where 
dost thou live? 
and of what tribe 
art thou? 

And he said 

I am a Jew, and have fled from the Lord who made 
the sea and sky. 

And the men were in great fear and said, Why 
hast thou done this thing? And what shall we do 



JO-NAH IN THE STORM. 



2 12 History of the Old Testament. 

to thee that the sea may be still for us? For the 
waves were rough, and the winds blew a gale. 

And Jo-nah said to the men, Take me up and 
cast me in-to the sea; then shall the sea be calm for 
you, for I know it is for my sake that this great storm 
has come up-on you. 

The men did not want to drown Jo-nah, so they 
tried their best to bring the ship to land, but could 
not. 

Then they cried to the Lord, O Lord, we pray 
thee, count it no sin to us that we take this man's 
life, for thou, O Lord, hast sent this storm on us for 
some of his sins. 

So they took up Jo-nah, and cast him in-to the 
sea, and the sea grew still and calm. 

And when the men saw this they were in great 
fear, and brought gifts to the Lord, and made vows 
that they would serve him. 

Now the Lord had sent a great fish to the side 
of the ship to take Jo-nah in-to its mouth as soon as 
he was thrown in-to the sea. 

And Jo-nah was in-side the fish for three days 
and three nights. And he prayed to the Lord while 
he was in the fish ; and cried to God to help him, and 
to blot out his sins. And God heard him, and bade 
the fish throw him up on the dry land. 

Then the Lord spoke to Jo-nah once more, and 



Jonah, the Man who Tried to Hide from God. 2 1 3 

said, Rise, and goto Nin-e-veh, and preach to it as I 
bid thee. 

And Jo-nah rose and went. 

And when God saw them turn from their sins and 
pray to him, he did not do to Nin-e-veh as he said 
he would. 

But this did not please Jo-nah. He thought that 
Nin-e-veh should be brought low, for those who dwelt 
there were not good friends to the Jews. Then, too, 
Jo-nah's pride was hurt, for he knew that men would 
laugh at him, and have no faith in what he said, so 
he went out of the town and sat down by the road- 
side. 

And God made a vine to grow up there in one 
night, that Jo-nah might sit in its shade and find rest 
from his grief. And Jo-nah was glad when he saw 
the gourd. The next morn God sent a worm to gnaw 
the root of the vine, and it soon dried up. 

When the sun rose God sent a hot wind, and the 
sun beat on Jo-nah's head so that he grew sick and 
fell in a faint. And he was wroth, and had no wish 
to live. 

And God said to Jo-nah, Is it well for thee to be 
in such grief for the loss of a gourd ? 

And Jo-nah said. Yes. There was good cause 
why he should feel as he did and long to die. 

Then the Lord said to him, Thou wouldst have 



214 History of the Old Testament 

had me spare this vine which cost thee nought, and 
which grew up in a night and died in a night. And 
why should I not spare Nin-e-veh — that great town — 
in which are hosts and hosts of 3^oung folks who do 
not know their right hand from their left? 

So God put Jo-nah to shame, and made him see 
what a sin it was to wish to crush Nin-e-veh just to 
please his own self and for fear men would laugh at 
him. 

And Jo-nah found out, what we all need to learn, 
that it is of no use to try to hide from God. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

DANIEL. 

There was a king of Bab-y-lon whose name was 
Neb-u-chad-nez-zar. And he sent one of his chief 
men to choose some of the young Jews who had 
been well brought up, that they might wait on him. 

The chief chose four youths whose names were 
Dan-i-el, Sha-drach, Me-shach and A-bed-ne-go. 
And these were brought to Bab-y-lon, that they 
might be taught as the king wished. 

And the Lord was with these four young men, 



Daniel. 



215 



and made them wise, and strong in mind, and fair 
of face. 

When they had been taught for three years they 
were brought 
to the king's 
house. And 
the king kept 
them near 
him, and 
made use of 
them, for he 
found that 
they knew ten 
times more 
than all the 
wise men in 
the whole 
realm. 

One night 
the king had 
a dream that 
woke him out 
of his sleep. 
And he sent 
for all the wise 
men — those who could read stars, and those who 
could work charms — to tell what the dream meant. 




KING NEB-U-CHAD-NEZ-ZAR. 



2i6 History of the Old Testament. 

And they all came, but none of them could tell 
the dream that had gone out of the king's own head. 
And no king, they said, would ask such a thing of 
wise men. 

The king was wroth at this and gave word that 
all the wise men should be put to death. And they 
sought Dan-i-el and his friends, that they might kill 
them. 

Dan-i-el said, Why is there such haste? And 
when he was told he went in to the king and said if 
he would give him time he would make his dream 
clear to him. 

In the night God showed the king's dream to 
Dan-i-el, and all that it meant was made clear to him. 
And Dan-i-el gave praise and thanks to God who 
had been so good to him. 

Then he went to the chief, and told him not to 
slay the wise men, but to bring him in to the king. 

Then Dan-i-el told the king his dream, and all 
that would come to pass, and when the king heard 
it he fell on his face before Dan-i-el and said to him. 
It is true that your God is a God of gods, and a 
Lord of kings, and that nought is hid from him, since 
thou hast told me this dream. 

And the king made Dan-i-el a great man, and 
gave him rich gifts, and put him at the head of all 
the wise men in the land. 



Daniel, 



;i7 



Now king Neb-u-chad-nez-zai made a great god 
out of gold, and set it on one of the plains of Bab-y-1on. 

And one of the king's men cried out with a loud 
voice, and said 
it was the king's 
law that all 
should bow 
down to the god 
of gold that he 
had set up. And 
those who did 
not bow down 
were to be thrown 
in-to a great hot 
hre and burnt 
up. 

And some 
men brought 
word to the king 
that the three 
Jews would not 
serve his gods, 
or bow down 

. . 1 • c neb-u-chad-ne2-zar's dream. 

to this one oi 

gold which he had set up. 

These three men were brought to the king, and 
he said to them. Is it true, O Sha-drach, Me-shach, 




2 1 8 History of the Old Testament. 

and A-bed-ne-go that ye will not serve my gods or 
bow down to the one of gold which I have set up? 
And he said he would give them one more chance, and 
if they did not bow down when they heard the call, 
they should be cast in the same hour in-to the flames. 
The three Jews said to the king, Be it known to thee 
now that we will not serve thy gods, nor bow down 
to the new one thou hast set up. And if we are cast 
in the fire, the God whom we serve will save us from 
death and bring us out of thy hands, O king. 

Then was the king in a great rage, and he sent 
word that a fierce fire should be made. And the 
three Jews were bound and thrown in-to the flames 
with all their clothes on. And the fire was so hot 
and they went so near that sparks flew out and killed 
the men who took up Sha-drach, Me-shach and A- 
bed-ne-go. 

These three Jews fell down in the midst of the 
flames, but soon rose to their feet, and the Lord 
would not let the flames burn them. 

When the king saw this he rose in great haste 
and said to his chiefs, Did we not cast three men 
bound in the midst of the fire ? 

And they said, True, O king. 

And the king said, Lo, I see four men loose, and 
they walk through the flames and are not hurt, and 
the form of the fourth is like to the son of God. 



Daniel. 



219 



Then the king came to the door of the cage of 
fire and said to Sha-drach, Me-shach and A-bed-ne- 
go, Ye who serve the most high God, come forth, 
and come here. 

And the 
three young 
Jews came forth 
out of the midst 
of the fire, and 
not a hair of 
their head was 
singed, nor were 
their clothes 
harmed, nor 
was the smell of 
fire on them. 

And the 
king praised the 
God who had 
shown that he 
would save 
from death 

those who put their trust in him. And the king 
made it a law that those who spoke ill of the God of 
Sha-drach, Me-shach, and A-bed-ne-go should be 
put to death, and their homes torn down, for there 
was no God who could save as he could. 




DWELL-ING WITH THE BEASTS. 



220 History of the Old Testament. 

For a while the king served God and gave him 
praise for all he had done for him. But men who 
thought to please the kmg, spoke of his great wealth 
and praised all that he did, so that he grew vain and 
proud, and thought more of him-self than he did of 
God. 

And the king had a dream that made him shake 
with fear, and he sent for Dan-i-el. And Dan-i-el 
feared to tell the king the truth. But the king told 
him to speak out. Then Dan-i-el told him what 
would take place. 

And it all came on king Neb-u-chad-nez-zar. In 
the same hour his mind left him and he was not fit 
to reign. So he was thrust out of doors, and did eat 
grass with the beasts of the fields. \nd he lay on 
the ground, and was wet with the dews, and his hair 
grew so long that his flesh could not be seen, and his 
nails were like bird's claws. 

And at the end of the sev-en years Neb-u-chad- 
nez-zar raised his eyes to God, and his mind came 
back to him, and he spoke in praise of the most High. 

And Neb-u-chad-nez-zar was made king once 
more, and grew strong and great, and gave the praise 
to God ; the King of kings, who could raise up those 
who were down, and bringdown those who were full 
of pride. 

When Neb-u-chad-nez-zar died, a new king was 



222 History of the Old Testament, 

on the throne of Bab-y-lon whose name was Bel-shaz- 
zar. And Bel-shaz-zar made a great feast, and much 
wine was drunk. And the king sent for the rich cups 
which his fath-er had brought from the Lord's house 
in Je-ru-sa-lem. And he and all at the feast drank 
from these cups, which was a great sin. 

In the midst of the feast there came forth a man's 
hand, that wrote on the wall of the king's house. 

And the king saw the hand, and was in great 
fear, and sent at once for all his wise men. 

But none of them could read what was on the 
wall, and the king knew not what to do. Then 
Dan-i-el was sent for, and the king said he should 
have great wealth and high rank if he could read the 
words on the wall. 

Dan-i-el said. Keep thy gifts, O king, and give 
thy fees to some one else. Yet will I read the words 
on the wall and tell you what they mean. For the 
God who gives thee life and takes care of thee, 
thou hast no word of praise. And so God sent 
this hand to write on the wall. 

Me-ne, Me-ne, Te-kel, U-phar-sin, 

which means that thy reign as king is at an end. 

When Dan-i-el had told what the hand wrote on 
the wall, and what the words meant, Bel-shaz-zar bade 
his men clothe him in red, and put a gold chain on 



2 24 History of the Old Testament. 

his neck, and make it known that he was to be third 
in rank from the king. 

That same night Bel-shaz-zar was slain, and Da- 
ri-us took his place on the throne 

Now Da-ri-us was pleased with Dan-i-el, and 
thought him such a wise and good man that he made 
him chief of a large force of men who held high rank. 
And this made these men hate Dan-i-el, and they 
tried to find out some ill that he had done that they 
might tell it to the king. But they could find no 
fault in him. Then they thought of a way in which 
they could harm him. 

They came to the king and asked him to make a 

law that if one should ask help of God or man for 

one month, he should be cast in-to a den of li-ons. 

They might ask help of the king, but of no one 

else. 

And the king told them to write down this law, 
and he put his name to it. 

When Dan-i-el heard of the law which the king 
had sent out he went to his home and knelt down 
three times a day with his face to Je-ru-sa-lem, 
and gave thanks to God first as he had done all 
his life. 

And the men who were on the watch to catch 
him in some crime, drew near his house and heard 
him pray to his God. So they went and told the 



Daniel. 



225 



king, and the king was wroth to think he had made 
such a law. And he tried his best to save Dan-i-eL 
But the men held him to his word, and said it would 
not do for him to change a law that had been made. 

Then the 
king bade them 
bring Dan-i-el 
and cast him in 
the den of wild 
beasts. And 
he said to Dan- 
i-el, Thy God, 
whom thou dost 
serve so well, 
will be sure to 
save thee. 

And a stone 
was brought 
and laid on the 
mouth of the 
den. 

Then the 

king went to his own house, but would take no food, 
nor did he sleep all that night. And at dawn he 
rose and went in haste to the den of wild beasts. 
And as he drew near he cried out with a sad voice, O 
Dan-i-el, canst thy God save thee from the li-ons? 




ROCK GRAVE OF DA-RI-US. 



Y. F B. 



226 



History of the Old Testament. 



A 

li-ons' 
I had 



nd Dan-i-el said, O king, my God hath shut the 

mouths so that they have not hurt me, since 

done no wrong in his sight nor in thine, O king. 

Then the king 
was glad, and bade 
his men take Dan-i-el 
out of the den. And 
when he was brought 
out, there was not a 
scratch found on him, 
for his trust was in 
God, and God took 
care of him. 

Then the king 
had those men who 
found fault with 
Dan-i-el, thrown in- 
to the den — they and 
their wives, and their 
chil-dren — and the 
cv-Rus, KING OK PER-siA. wiM bcasts wcrc quick 

to eat them up. 
Then Da-ri-us made a law that all men should 
serve the God of Dan-i-el, who was the one true God. 
When Da-ri-us died, Cy-rus was made king. 




CHAPTER XX. 

THE GOOD QUEEN ESTHER. 

Far back in the past, wise men had fore-told that 
the Jews would be kept out of Je-ru-sa-lem for three- 
score and ten years, and at the end of that time a 
king, Cy-rus, would let them go back to the land they 
came from. And he did so. 

Not all the Jews went back to their own land, 
but some of them made their homes in Per-si-a and 
else-where. And King A-has-u-e-rus was on the 
throne. 

In the third year of his reign he made a great 
feast. 

And he sent for Vash-ti, the queen, to throw off 
her veil and let his guests see how fair she was. 

But Vash-ti would not do it. 

Then the king was in a rage, and said to his 
wise men, What shall we do to Queen Vash-ti to 
make her know that the king's will is her law ? 

And the wise men said, Vash-ti hath done wrong 
to the king and to all the lords of the land. 

For when this is told, wives will not do as their 

liege lords wish. They will say, The king sent word 

(227) 



228 History of the Old Testament. 

for Vash-tl, the queen, to be brought to him, but she 
came not. Let the king make a law and put Vash- 
ti from him and choose a new queen, that all wives, 
great and small, may take heed and do as they are 
told. 

The king and all the lords thought these were 
wise words. And the king made it a law that a man 
should rule in his own house. 

Then some of the king's men, whose place it was 
to wait on him, came to him and said it would be 
a good plan for him to have all the fair maids in the 
land brought to his house, that he might choose one 
of them to be queen, in the place of Vash-ti. 

And the king did as they said. 

Now there was a Jew in the king's house, whose 
name was Mor-de-ca-i. He was a poor man, and 
was there to wait on the king. 

And there was a maid named Es-ther, who was 
one of his kins-folk. And she was *Tair of face, and 
full of grace." 

And when the word went forth from the king, 
scores and scores of fair young maids came to the 
king's house, and Es-ther came with them. And 
one of the king's men had them all in his charge. 

This man was so pleased with Es-ther that he was 
more kind to her than he was to the rest, and sent 
maids to wait on her, and put her and her maids 




ES-THER AND THE KING, 



(229) 



230 History of the Old Testament. 

in the best part of the house where the wo-men were. 

But Es-ther had not let it be known that her folks 

were Jews, for Mor-de-ca-ihad told her not to tell it. 

As soon as the kin^" saw Es-ther he fell in love 

o 

with her, and set the crown on her head, and made 
her queen in the place of Vash-ti. 

Then the king made a great feast, and gave gifts 
to the poor for the new queen's sake. And she had 
not yet made it known that her folks were Jews. 

Now two of the king's men, who stood on guard 
at the doors of his house, were wToth with the king 
and sought to kill him. 

And their plot was known to Mor-de-ca-i, who 
was a watch-man at the king s gate. And he told it 
to Es-ther, and she told it to the king, and both of 
the men were hung. And what Mor-de-ca-i had 
done to save the king's life was put down in a book. 

And in this same book was set down all that took 
place in the king's reign. 

Now there was in the king's house a man whose 
name was Ha-man. And the king gave him a high 
place, and bade those of low rank bow down to 
Ha-man. 

But the Jew at the gate would not bow when 
Ha-man went in and out. And the rest of the men 
who stood by told Ha-man of it. 

Now Ha-man was a vain man, and when he saw 



The Good Queen Esther, 231 

that Mor-de-ca-i did not bow to him as the rest did 
he was full of wrath. It had been made known to 
him that Mor-de-ca-i was a Jew. 

And so he told the king if he would make a law 
that all the Jews should be put to death, he would 
give him a large sum of gold and sil-ver. 

The king heard what Ha-man said, and then 
took his ring from his hand and gave it to Ha- 
man, and told him to do with the Jews as he thought 
best. The king gave him his ring that he might use 
it as a seal. And Ha-man set the scribes to work, 
and they wrote just what he told them, in the king's 
name. And when the wax was put at the end with 
the king's seal on it, it was the same as if the whole 
had been writ by the king's own hand. 

Men were sent out in haste to make the law 
known through-out the land, that all the Jews in 
Per-si-a were to be slain. And when this was done 
Ha-man and the king sat down to drink wine. 

When Mor-de-ca-i heard of the law that Ha-man 
had made, he rent his clothes and put on sack-cloth, 
and went out and cried with a loud cry. And he 
came and stood in front of the king's gate, though he 
could not pass through, for it was the law that none 
should pass who wore sack-cloth. And all through 
the land the Jews were in deep grief, so full of 
tears that they could eat no food; and not a few 



232 History of the Old Testament. 

of them put on sack-cloth to show the depth of 
their woe. 

Queen Es-ther had not heard of the law, but her 
maids came and told her of the state Mor-de-ca-i was 
in. And her grief was great, and she sent food and 
clothes to him, and bade the men take the sack-cloth 
from him. But Mor-de-ca-i would take nought from 
their hands, nor change his clothes. 

Then the queen sent one of her head men, Ha- 
tach, to ask Mor-de-ca-i what was the cause of his 
grief, and why he had put on sack-cloth. 

And Mor-de-ca-i told Ha-tach of the law that had 
been made, and what a large sum Ha-man had said 
he would give to the king if he would kill off all the 
Jews in the land. 

And he told Ha-tach to tell the queen, and to 
show her what the scribes wrote, and bid her see the 
king and ask him to save the Jews. 

And Ha-tach took the word to the queen, 

Es-ther bade him tell her kins-man that it was 
well known that those who went in to the king when 
they had not been sent for, would be put to death. 
But if the king held out his gold wand it was a sign 
that he would spare their lives. The king has not 
sent for me for a month, said she. How then can I 
go to him ? 

Mor-de-ca-i sent back word to the queen to think 



The Good Queen Esther. 



233 



not that the king would spare her Hfe if the Jews were 
put to death. And it might be that God had put her 
in the place she held 
that she might keep 
the Jews at this time. 

Then Es-ther sent 
word to him that he 
and all the Jews in the 
king's court should fast 
and pray for her, and 
not eat or drink for 
three days and three 
nights. 

1 and my maids 
will do the same, said 
the queen, and I will 
go in to the king in 
spite of the law; and 
if I die, I die in a 
good cause. 

So on the third dav 
after the queen put 
on her rich robes, and 
went in and stood 
ve-ry near to the throne on which the king sat. 

And when the king saw her, God put it in-to his 
heart to be kind, and he held out to her the gold 




ES-THEK AT SHUS-HAN. 



2 34 History of the Old Testament. 

wand that was in his hand. And the queen drew 
near, and touched the tip of the wand. 

Then the king said, What wilt thou, Queen Es- 
ther? and what wouldst thou ask of me? Were it 
half of my realm I would give it to thee. 

The queen said, If it please the king, I would 
like him and Ha-man to come this day to a feast I 
have made for them. 

And the king bade Ha-man make haste, and 
they both went to the feast. And while they drank 
the wine the king told the queen to make known her 
wish. 

But she put him off and said she would tell him 
the next day, if he and Ha-man would come to the 
feast that she would spread for them. 

And Ha-man's heart was full of pride, since the 
queen chose him and no one else to feast with her 
and the king. And when he went out he felt that 
all men ought to bow down to him. But Mor-de- 
ca-i would not. And Ha-man told all his friends 
how kind the king and queen were to him, and 
what high rank he held, and said that his life would 
be full of joy if it were not for the Jew at the king's 
gate. 

Ha-man's wife told him to fix a rope to a tall 
tree, and speak to the king the next day and have 
him hang the Jew. And Ha-man made a slio-noose 



The Good Queen Esther. 235 

at the end of a rope, and had the rope made fast to 
a tall tree. 

Now that night the king could not sleep. And 
he sent for the book in. which was put down all that 
took place in the realm, and had it read to him. 
And when he who read came to the part which told 
what Mor-de-ca-i had done to save the king's life, the 
king said, How has Mor-de-ca-i been paid for this 
deed ? 

And the man said he had had nought, and still 
kept watch at the kmg's gate. 

Then the king heard a step and sent one of 
his men to see who it was. 

Now Ha-man had come to the king's house to 
ask him to hang Mor-de-ca-i. And the man came 
back and said that Ha-man stood in the court. And 
the king said. Let him come in. 

So Ha-man came in. And the king said to him, 
What shall be done to the man who has won the 
praise of the king? 

And Ha-man thought, That means me, of course, 
and no one else. 

And he said to the king, Let the robes be brought 
that the king wears, and the horse he rides, and the 
crown which is set on his head. And let the robes 
and the crown be put on the man whom the king has 
m mind, and bring him on horse-back through the 



236 History of the Old Testament, 

street of the town, and have men cry out, Thus shall 
it be done to the man who has won the praise of the 
king. 

And the king said to Ha-man, Make haste and 
take the robes and the horse as thou hast said, and 
do thus and no less to the Jew at the king's gate. 

But Ha-man went home, and was full of shame. 
And he told his wife and his friends of his hard fate. 
And while they yet spake the king's men came for 
him to go to the queen's feast. And while they ate 
and drank, the king bade the queen make known her 
wish. Ask what thou wilt ; were it half my realm, I 
would give it to thee. 

The" the queen said, If it please thee, O king, 
take my life and spare the lives of all the Jews. For 
we have been sold and the truth has not been told ol 
us, and we are to be put to death. The king said, 
Who is he, and where is he who has dared to do 
this thing? 

And the queen told him it was Ha-man. And 
Ha-man was in great fear as he stood face to face 
with the king and queen. 

The king rose in great wrath and went out of 
doors, and when he came in he saw Ha-man at the 
feet of the queen, where he went to beg her to save 
his life. 

And when the king was shown the rope and the 



The Good Queen Esther. 237 

tree on which Ha-man meant to hang Mor-de-ca-i 
he said, W.2iX\g him on it. And they hung Ha-man, 
and the king's wrath left him. 

And on the same day the king gave Ha-man's 
house to Es-ther, and Mor-de-ca-i was brought in to 
the kmg, who had been told that he was a kins-man 
of the queen. And the king gave him the ring which 
Ha-man had worn, and the queen put him at the 
head of the house in which Ha-man had dwelt. 

But Es-ther was still sad at heart be-cause of the 
law that had been made, that all the Jews in the land 
should be put to death. And she went in once 
more to the king — though he had not sent for her 
— and fell down at his feet in tears. Then the king 
held out the wand of gold, and the queen rose, and 
stood be-fore the king and asked him to change the 
law and save the lives of the Jews. 

The king could not change the law, but he told 
Es-ther and Mor-de-ca-i to make a law that would 
please them and sign it with the king's seal. So they 
made a law that the Jews should kill all those who 
came to do them harm. And when Mor-de-cai 
came out from his talk with the king he had on a 
robe of blue and white, such as the king wore, and 
a gold crown on his head. 

And all the Jews were glad; and when the day 
came that Ha-man had set for the Jews to be slain, 



238 History of the Old Testament, 

the Jews went out and fought for their lives and put 
their foes to rout. And grief gave place to joy, and 
a feast was held for two days. This feast was called 
the Feast of Pu-rim, which the Jews keep to this 
day. 

The Jews who had gone to Je-ru-sa-lem to build 
up its walls were still at work there. But there were 
foes to watch, and the poor Jews found fault with 
the rich ones, and there was strife in their midst 
from year to year. But when Ne-he-mi-ah went to 
their aid the Lord gave him strength to set things 
straight, and in a year the new wall was built and 
the gate put up. Then there was a great feast, and 
all the Jews gave praise and thanks to God. 

But they went back to their sins, and did not 
serve God as they ought. And kings fought for Je- 
ru-sa-lem and took it from their hands and made the 
Jews their slaves. 

And at last the Ro-mans came and took Je-ru-sa- 
lem and broke down its walls, and made the Jews 
serve them. And He-rod, who had led the Ro-mans 
to war, was made their king. He was a fierce, bad 
man, who would let no one rule but him-self. He 
put his own wife and two of his sons to death, and 
did all that he could to make folks hate and fear him. 

He tried to make the Jews think that he was one of 
their race, but he was not. He thought it would 



The Good Queen Esther. 



241 



please them if he built up their House of God, so he 
set men to work to tear down the old and to put up 
the new, and they made use of much gold and sil-ver 
and fine white stones. 

There was no ark to put in it, for that had been 
lost, but a large stone was put in the place where the 
ark should have been. 

And it took He-rod more than nine years to build 
this House of God on the top of Mount Mo-ri-ah. 
And the way up to it was by a long flight of steps. 

This ends the Old Tes-ta-ment, which was made 
up of all the books that were kept by all the scribes 
from the time the world was made. 




Y. F. B.— 16 



JUL S5 ^^^'^ 



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